


And So We Survive

by ghost_beats



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Post-Apocalypse, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:00:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 30,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28632894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghost_beats/pseuds/ghost_beats
Summary: The world has changed drastically since The Aldecaldos left Night City. Now they are faced with their toughest survival situation yet. But they are family, and they will stick together until the very end.
Relationships: Judy Alvarez/Female V
Comments: 51
Kudos: 226





	1. As Long As I Have You

**Author's Note:**

> I really enjoyed playing through this game, and I especially loved seeing Judy’s storyline unfold. After I finished The Star ending, I thought about how things might look for the Aldecaldos in a post-apocalyptic setting. 
> 
> This is my first ever attempt at fanfiction and I debated posting this for a while. But I love Judy and V’s relationship, so I decided to give it a go. I plan on consistently adding more to this story going forward. Hope you enjoy! :)
> 
> *Contains some spoilers for the game.

You don’t really think about the way time controls everything until you’re fighting for your survival.

1 year since Mikoshi and leaving with the Aldecaldos. 

loss / fear

7 months since finding a solution for V and saving her life.

happiness / fear

6 months since setting up a semi-permanent camp on the outskirts of Red Timber.

settled / fear

4 months since the announcements.

chaos / fear

2 months since the evacuations of major cities (most of which were unsuccessful.)

desperation / fear

1 week since finishing major defenses and barricades around camp.

security / fear

**

V had to laugh, just to stop herself from crying if nothing else. She made it out of one major survival situation only to find herself pushed right into another one. Things never stopped moving, never slowed down. It was always about survival. 

Panam was still their fearless leader, and quite frankly, the reason everyone was still alive as far as V was concerned. Anyone who ever possessed doubt about her leadership had been proven wrong countless times. In this entire year, they had only lost 2 people. Both due to uncontrollable accidents. That didn’t mean that Panam blamed herself any less though.

V was pulled from her wandering thoughts by a hand on her shoulder. The fearless leader herself.

“Hey you okay? You spaced out... again.” Panam chuckled, shaking V lightly. 

“Yeah yeah, sorry.” V turned to face her. “What’s up?” 

“Today’s notes? We’re just about to start.” 

V looked past her to the group settling in around a table inside of the large meeting tent. “Oh yeah. Sorry, lost track of time.”

Panam nodded, still eyeing her suspiciously, wondering if everything was actually okay. She decided to change the subject.

“Oh by the wayyy.” Her tone was suddenly happy. “I checked in with Lora today and she thinks she has the perfect thing ready to go. She wants you to go down there and look at it tomorrow.” 

V smiled and shook her head. “Wow, okay. Yeah I can do that. Thanks, I don’t know how I could pull this off with-“ She stopped as she saw Judy talking nearby with the group. 

V’s head motioned over there and Panam looked behind her, and then back to V, nodding her head and winking. “See ya in there.” She left for the tent as V sighed, trying to calm her nerves. 

After a moment, she made her way to the tent as well. She went to go stand by Judy, who had just finished talking with Carol.

As Judy noticed her, she reached out and took V’s hand, intertwining their fingers, giving her a soft smile. “Hey you.”

V smiled, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Hey.” 

Panam motioned for the group to quiet down as they all found their seats. V and Judy chose a couple chairs and V placed both their hands in her lap as they settled in.

Panam sighed before addressing them. V could tell she was having a tougher day than normal. She felt a pang of worry prick at her mind, unsure of what this meeting would hold.

“Alright, only real news for today is from Mitch’s RG.” She paused. “Uh, Recon Group, for those who aren’t normally here.” 

V looked around, noticing for the first time that there were a few people in attendance that didn’t normally attend.

“The group just returned a couple hours ago. Yesterday they went past Red Timber, down to the southern pond, and came back around through Dust Valley. It seems as though there has been some activity but..” She looked to Mitch, motioning him to the front. “Mitch, I’ll let you fill in the details if you want.”

He nodded and stood, as Panam took a seat and began typing on her laptop. 

He cleared his throat and cracked his back. 

“Yeah so.. it was an interesting route. Like Panam said, we saw signs of previous activity. From what we could tell, it was most likely Trackers. Maybe a few X-porters. Never actually saw them though, mostly just noticed little things like markings and scrap. Nothing unusual there. But what was unusual was this.”

He placed a device on the table, and multiple people shifted in order to get a better look. 

“My best guess is that this is a beacon. We have heard about them for a long time, and I think we are finally getting our first look at one now.” 

Most of the people around the table looked nervous now, including Judy, who had begun lightly bouncing her leg up and down. It was one of her nervous tells, always has been. V gently squeezed Judy’s hand that was in her lap and moved her leg over, nestling it against Judy’s. She seemed to relax and her leg steadied at the silent show of support. Before anyone could voice their growing concern, Mitch continued.

“Now, before anyone wonders why it’s here, don’t worry, we followed protocol. Calvin made a DC of it. The real-“ He caught himself and followed what Panam had done earlier and clarified. “Detailed Copy. The real beacon, if that’s what this is, is still out there, untouched. For now. As you might know, this beacon does not mean that we’ve been marked. It could just mean that they are marking down a path, or a possible regrouping point for them. It’s a good sign that we didn’t actually see any Psychs. So just know that Calvin and I, along with the tech team, will be working hard to decipher whatever this means. We will keep you posted. I’ll be around camp tonight and tomorrow if anyone has additional questions about our RG.” 

He looked to Panam, indicating he was done. She nodded, finished typing a few notes, and stood to take his place. 

“We will get to your questions in a minute. This beacon was found at the southern end of the valley, so I’ve marked that on the map with a black dot. For now, we will just continue doing what we normally do. I will be sending another patrol that way in the very near future, equipped with more tech and gear. All of you should be on the lookout for anything else unusual, and if you find anything or hear of something, report to me or Mitch immediately. Thank you to the newcomers here. I chose you guys because you are leaders in your camp areas, and we all need to stay as safe as possible and look out for each other.” 

She sighed softly and her tone turned a bit more demanding. “However, for now this information stays in this tent. Except for the tech team, no one else should be worried about this. We need to know more before we go around spreading information. I trust you all to keep this to yourselves, but remember it well so that you can effectively watch out for more signs of this. I will take some questions now.” 

The group spent some time discussing what this could mean and next steps involved. V was glad when they finally adjourned: this certainly had not been what she was expecting.

V and Judy walked back to their tent, hand in hand.

“That was crazy.” Judy broke the silence, kicking a small rock out of her path.

V nodded, rubbing her head. “Yeah. I can’t believe we’ve gone this long without seeing a beacon honestly.” 

Judy looked up to the stars, which were a little bit more visible now that they were in the darker section of camp. 

She sighed softly. “We can handle this, we’ve gone through worse before.” 

V scoffed, squeezing her hand. “Can’t argue with that.” 

They reached their tent and V remembered she had to review some things for the next day. As soon as she had changed into shorts and a tank top, she sat down in a chair at their makeshift table. 

“Just gotta go over these maps for tomorrow quick, sorry.” She moved the light source closer so she could see. 

Judy just hummed in acknowledgement and she finished changing for bed. Her eyes were heavy with tiredness as she walked over to V, crawling into her lap. V smiled, feeling the butterflies in her stomach soar. Judy wrapped her arms around her and let her legs fall on either side of her. She snuggled into her, sighing happily. 

“Hey sleepy.” V kissed her neck, savoring her sweet smell. 

She lightly rubbed circles on Judy’s back, as she looked through some documents and wrote down some notes with her other hand. After just a couple minutes she noticed that Judy’s grip around her had loosened and her breathing grew heavier, indicating she was asleep.

V felt tears filling her eyes. 

She thought back to months ago, when her condition with the biochip was worsening. Judy had been so strong for her, despite the fact that she was having such a hard time with it. She would have frequent panic attacks, and for a while, couldn’t sleep without V holding her. Judy had a constant fear of loss. 

V remembered the night before her operation, the cloud of uncertainty thick in the air. Everyone knew that it would either save her or kill her. As the two of them laid in bed, Judy had whispered tear-filled words to her. Words that absolutely broke her in a raw, terrifying, beautiful way.

“This biochip is destroying us both. Your body and my heart. You are my heart, V. And if you’re taken from me tomorrow, just know that I will never love again as I have loved you. Never. But I will live for you. I won’t give up even though I’ll want to. I’ve told the stars about you, and if you have to join them, just know I’ll be looking for you. But please... Survive instead.”

And she did survive. 

Now here they were. V was alive. Judy was peacefully asleep in V’s arms. And they were happy, despite the circumstances around them. V wiped away her tears and took a deep, slow breath. She placed another gentle kiss to Judy’s skin. 

She quickly finished her work and turned off the light, allowing only the dim light from the camp and the night sky to creep into the tent. V sat there in the dark for a while, just holding her girlfriend, thinking about the state of the world. 

How had all of this happened? This was a question she, and everyone else, had asked themselves countless times. She wished things were different. She wished that they could wake up in the morning with no worry of what awaited them that day. She wished she could give Judy a truly peaceful life, something that neither of them had ever experienced fully.

She caught herself yet again wishing for Night City, the way it used to be. How messed up was that? Now all that remained of the destroyed city were Psychs, burning piles of rubble, and rivers of blood and bodies. Anyone stupid enough to stick around was either dead or wished they were. 

She remembered what Judy used to say. ‘Night City eats you up and spits you out, leaving nothing but an empty shell.’ It was ironic that it ended up doing the same thing to itself. The Psychs that were born from Night City destroyed it from the inside out. And now nothing would ever be the same. It was all about survival, one day at a time. 

V’s thoughts returned to her current place. They had some security, a family around them, and they were both alive. She was grateful that she was given another chance, even if this life was not exactly what she had pictured. It was hers and Judy’s, and that was what mattered to her now.

V carried Judy to bed and gently laid her down. She stirred briefly and smiled as V joined her, covering them up with the blankets. Judy’s arms were around her instantly, and she lifted her head, tugging on V’s shirt. 

V chuckled, knowing she wanted her arm. She put her arm around her and Judy’s head laid back down, now using it as a familiar pillow. 

“I love you mi calabacita.” She whispered sleepily.

“I love you too, Jude.” 

V played with Judy’s hair until they were both asleep. Warm and happy and alive. 

**

V awoke to the sounds of the camp getting ready for the day. She knew they should probably get up, even though her body was begging her to stay right where she was. Judy was cuddled into her side. V kissed her on her forehead, and moved the hair out of her face. 

“Time to get up baby.” V cooed, kissing her again.

Judy groaned half-asleep and shook her head, snuggling V tighter. “Mmm no.”

“I know.. I really don’t want to get up either but we have to.” She shifted and tried to get up but Judy latched onto her.

V laughed and laid back down. “Babyyy.” Judy just buried her face deeper into V’s shoulder, hiding her blushing cheeks.

V smiled and traced her fingertips along Judy’s face and lightly tickled a sensitive spot at the back of her neck. “You’re too cute for your own good.” 

Judy giggled into V’s shoulder and turned to face her. She grabbed her hand, bringing it to her chest and kissing it. “You’re pretty cute yourself.”

V stared at her and felt desire grow within her. She was so in love with her. She brought her hand, and Judy’s along with it, to Judy’s cheek, stroking her jawline. V kissed her softly and then peppered kisses down her neck and collarbone. She propped herself up, now hovering over her. Judy let out a small whimper and moved her hands to V’s hair. 

“I thought you said we had to get up?” Judy breathed out, her heart rate quickening.

V smiled. “I obviously wasn’t thinking clearly. We should probably stay in bed today so I don’t spread my negative thinking to others.”

Judy laughed at that. “Gonk.”

“And yet somehow you love me.” She replied softly.

V ran her hand slowly down Judy’s abs, and settled at her waistband, playing with the fabric of her shorts. Never taking her eyes off of Judy’s, V snaked her hand under the shorts. Judy’s breath hitched and she looked to V with longing, her eyes darkening. 

A sudden, rather loud, voice from outside made them jump.

“V! Judy! Can you come out here?” It was Panam, who usually managed to make her way over to their tent at the worst times. 

V hung her head in defeat as they both groaned.

“Guess we’ll have to finish this later.” Judy whispered, running her thumb over V’s bottom lip.

V waited a moment before replying. “Okay, it’s later.” Judy let out a soft laugh as V kissed her.

“Guys?!” 

V jumped again. “I was hoping she forgot that we didn’t answer.” She muttered to Judy and turned her head to the tent entrance. “Yeah we’re asleep, Panam! Try again some other time!” She heard an exaggerated sigh outside.

Judy laughed again and patted V’s head. “Might as well get up now before she tears our tent down with us still inside.” 

V rolled her eyes but smiled. “Fine.” 

They quickly got dressed and made themselves look a little more presentable. 

As they exited the tent, V turned to Panam, who was waiting with her arms crossed. Surprisingly, she hadn’t just barged into the tent already.

“Good morning Queen Palmer. How can we be of service?” V questioned while sporting an accent, bowing dramatically. 

Judy giggled and Panam rolled her eyes but smiled. “Do you have the notes? I’m trying to gather all of them up.” 

V handed her the notes from the night before. “Here you go.” 

“Thanks.” She took the papers and swatted V’s head with them. 

V stepped back, flashing her a mock hurt look. Judy giggled again, and put her arm around her dorky girlfriend, moving her hand up to massage the spot Panam had hit. 

“We’ll be leaving for town soon, don’t be late.” Panam turned and walked to the recon tent. 

Judy’s hand stilled and she shifted a bit, staring at the ground. V turned to her, taking her hand. 

“Jude?” She lifted her face with her other hand.

“Didn’t know you were leaving camp today.” She mumbled, shifting again. 

Surprisingly, it had been a while since either of them had left camp, and it was so nice to spend more time together. V felt a pain in her heart. She knew that Judy still had some separation anxiety, mostly from everything they went through during those tough months preceding the operation.

“Hey, it’ll be okay. I promised Panam that I would help her with this, it’s important. But we should be back by tonight. I forgot to mention it last night, I’m sorry.” She frowned, feeling terrible. But she knew this was far more important than she could say.

Judy nodded, sighing. “Can I come?” She beamed suddenly, somewhat joking, even though she wanted to go.

V chuckled. “Don’t you have to help Carol today?” She nudged her softly.

Judy looked away sheepishly. “Didn’t know you knew about that.” 

“Mmhmm. But nice try, cutie.” She kissed her quickly on the nose, squeezing her hand. “Come on, I’ll walk you to TD before I go.” 

Judy smiled and seemed to relax a bit. They walked over to Tech Depot where people were beginning their work for the day. Carol was there already, fiddling with some broken tools. She noticed them walking up and nodded in greeting.

“Hey Judy, turns out we’re gonna pair our new drone project with the beacon project. Should be fun.” Her tone was borderline sarcastic. “We need your expertise.” That part sounded sincere at least. 

Judy nodded and sighed. “Alright, let’s talk options.” 

She turned to V, worry still laced in her eyes. “Be safe.” 

“Always. I will come and find you as soon as we get back, okay?” She placed her hand on the back of her neck and pulled her in for a kiss.

Judy nodded, blushing lightly now. “I love you.” 

“I love you too. Good luck on the tech projects.” 

V gave her a reassuring smile before heading towards the Vehicle Bay to meet up with Panam. She let out a shaky sigh. It was hard for her to be apart from Judy too.

They had survived so much, and they both knew the fears of loss all too well. 

V was determined to live a full life with the person who had taught her how to fully live in the first place.


	2. Planning Is Indispensable

V hopped in the passenger seat as she waited for Panam to finish talking to Calvin about the progress on the beacon. She checked her pistol and E-Knife, making sure they were ready to go. She sighed harshly, running her hand through her hair. It was always daunting going outside of the secure camp, even if just to Red Timber. 

Panam joined her after a few more moments, greeting her and getting behind the wheel. V saw Jace climb up into the bed of the truck. 

“Hey Jace! Spotting today huh?” V questioned through the small sliding window behind her. 

“Yep! Someone’s gotta protect your unpredictable self.” He joked, settling in with his gun as he leaned over the top of the truck. 

V chuckled and was about to shoot back a remark but she knew he was right. Predictably never seemed to be a strong theme with her. 

She heard his vision chip boot up with a slight crackling sound. He shook his head to get rid of the electric feeling and after another moment, gave them the all clear to get moving. 

Panam pulled out of the Vehicle Bay and drove slowly to the South Entrance. A motorized scrap bike followed, and V guessed Ryder was the.. well.. rider. The guards pulled open the gate to let them through, closing it quickly again as the truck and bike passed. 

V broke the silence as they rolled down the road towards the town, which was just barely visible in the distance. “So any news on the beacon?” She kept her voice low, unsure if Jace knew or not. 

Panam sighed. “Nothing concrete yet. The next patrol will head out tomorrow morning to go see if anything has changed.” She shifted in her seat. “I have a bad feeling about this V. We could be in way over our heads if things turn bad. Gonna see what Parker thinks about it once we get to town.”

V nodded, sympathizing with the weight on Panam’s shoulders. “We’ll figure it out, Pan. We’ve prepared for this the best we can.” 

She changed her tone after a moment of comfortable silence. “So Parker huh? You excited to see him?” 

Panam shook her head and rolled her eyes. “I saw him yesterday. Just need to update him on what’s going on now.”

“Hmm, gonna make driving to town a daily ritual now? I wonder why.” V laughed as she received a shove. 

Jace interrupted their bantering with a shout. “Panam! We got movement to the west, two red marks, about half a mile out.” 

Panam slowed the truck down to a stop and V gripped her holstered pistol out of habit. The bike stopped at Panam’s door.

“Any others around?” She questioned. 

Jace took a moment to reply, looking intently around the area. “Nope, just two Trackers looks like. They are definitely within the Cloak though, they obviously can’t see us.”

“Take them out.” She ordered, standing up halfway out of her now open door. 

There was a moment of apprehensive silence before 2 suppressed shots fired back to back, followed by a sigh of relief from Jace. “Done and done. All clear.” 

Panam let out her own relieved sigh and motioned to the west. “Good work Jace. Go ahead Ry, quickly.”

Ryder nodded and sped off towards the 2 crumpled heaps in the distant desert. They waited for him to sever the Trackers and collect whatever scrap was deemed useful. Panam wrote down the location, relative time, and description of what had happened. 

“Most excitement I’ve seen in a while.” V breathed out, taking her hand off her pistol. 

Panam scoffed, stuffing the logbook back into the center console. “Yeah hopefully it stays that way.” 

**

The rest of the short ride to town was smooth with no interruptions. After exiting the vehicles within the gates, Panam made her way to find Parker. Jace and Ryder went to trade a few supplies and V headed towards Lora’s workshop.

As V was about to enter the small building, she was nearly tackled to the ground by a screaming child. 

“V!” The girl was wrapped around her now, hugging her tightly. 

V laughed, steadying herself and hugging the girl back. “Harper! Good to see you, bud. How are you?”

“Really good!” The girl slid down off of V to the ground. “Where’s Judy?” She looked around wide-eyed. 

Smiling, V ruffled her hair. “She’s back at camp. She has lots of important work to do.” 

Harper frowned. “I miss her. When will she be back?” 

V kneeled down and wiped some dirt off her face. “Hopefully she can visit again soon. She misses you too, ya know.” 

She beamed at that. “I want to show her this thing I made. It’s perfect for destroying Psychs!” She very delicately pulled a device out of her pocket, showing it to V eagerly.

V laughed softly as a couple springs fell off it and bounced to the ground. “Well that’s certainly something we might need in the future. Make sure to keep it safe so you can show it to her next time she visits, okay?”

Harper nodded resolutely. “Okay.” She picked up the springs and put them in her pocket along with the device. “Whatcha doing here anyway?”

V stood, pointing to the building. “Here to see Lora. I better go in now.” 

Harper hugged her again before running off towards her friends. “Bye V!” 

She shook her head fondly and entered the workshop, finding Lora in the back. “Hey Lora.” 

“V! How are you?”

“I’m good, and you?” She hugged her.

“Oh you know how it is. I’m good.” She lowered her voice and smiled. “So I assume Panam told you?” V nodded and returned the smile. “Follow me then. I think you’ll be pleased.”

Lora led her to a back shelf, and she dug out a box that was hidden behind some others. V watched eagerly as Lora opened it, revealing 2 smaller boxes inside. One was marked with a V and one with a J. 

V looked to her, as if waiting for her approval, to which she was given a nod. She carefully picked up the box marked J and opened it. She gasped out slightly, smiling instantly.

It was beautiful. A simple, sleek but matte, pitch black ring. She carefully took it out and noticed the inscription etched around the inside, its dark gold color molding with the black perfectly.

“Lora.. this is..” She was blinking back tears. “Just perfect.” She looked to her, still smiling. “Thank you so much, truly.” 

Lora nodded and let out a soft laugh. “Oh of course, honey. It was such a pleasure to make them for you two, I adore the both of you.” She was holding back tears herself. “And don’t worry, I haven’t told a soul. This has been my own secret project.”

V placed the band back in the box and closed it gently. She hugged her again, and wiped her own tears as she pulled away. “Wow.. I’m just in shock, really. It’s more perfect than I imagined.”

Lora chuckled and opened V’s box, showing her. “Yours is identical just like you requested. Pretty good work if I do say so myself.” 

V sighed again, shaking her head happily. “How did you manage to make them so perfectly? Wasn’t it tough with the different materials I gave you?”

“It was a fun challenge, that’s for sure. I really enjoyed it, and I know that Judy will love it too. I’m very happy for you. You’ll have to let me know how it goes.”

After sharing a couple stories and a final heartfelt thank-you and hug, V carefully took the box and headed out to find Panam. Her hands were shaking from pure, exhilarating happiness as she tried to hold the box as still as possible. 

Panam and Parker, along with a few other people, were bouncing ideas off of each other in their meeting area. V slipped into the room, nodding a greeting to Panam as she sat down to listen. 

They talked about the discovery of the beacon and what it meant for their groups, both as separate entities and as a cohesive unit.

“What’s your plan with this for the Aldecaldos?” Parker questioned to Panam after a brief moment of silence. 

“We’re sending out the patrol I mentioned, and then maybe setting up a crash camp there, just for a few days. Some of your tech team could join forces with ours, so we can get to the bottom of this. We need to have action before this gets out of hand. If more beacons pop up, we need to know how to deal with them. The only way to do that is to go into the field and get more info. Quickly. We need to work together.” 

Parker shrugged. “I agree, but at what cost? Anyone who goes to that beacon point is a sitting gonk. We know Psychs will be back to that area, it’s just a matter of when and how many of them. And if that beacon actually holds the power to uncloak them like the rumors say...” He threw his hands up in frustration. “Then we’re screwed.”

Panam clenched her jaw and rubbed her temple. “I know. But the longer we wait, the higher the risk. We can send small units, a few tech people from each team and a few guards. They’ll be well-equipped and ready to fall back if needed.”

Parker sighed deeply, considering his options for a moment before turning to her again. “I trust you. I trust our people. I don’t trust the situation.” 

“Just send a drone.” 

Every head in the room snapped to the doorway.

V scoffed louder than intended. Kasey. 

She leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed nonchalantly.

Panam placed her hands on her hips. “We’ve thought about that but..”

Kasey had the audacity to interrupt her.

“No, a real drone. One of our battle drones.”

She sat down next to V, smiling at her before continuing. V furrowed her eyebrows and looked to Panam, who was already looking back at her shaking her head in disbelief.

“The beacon is within the Cloak right? The Psychs won’t be able to detect the drone and it can relay all the info back to camp. The difference is.. it has firepower. If something goes wrong, it can blow a crater into the problem. Sure you might lose the beacon but at least you won’t lose any people.” 

Panam laughed loudly at that. “Yeah sure, not until later, when an army of Psychs rains down on us once the beacon is destroyed. It’s almost guaranteed to send out a distress signal, pulling all of the surrounding Psychs to it. And what if it uncloaks them? They’ll know exactly where we are.”

Kasey just shrugged, obviously unbothered. “There’s no guarantee your people can figure out the beacon anyway, let alone disable it correctly. At least this way you can see what’s happening from a safe distance and prepare for the worst at the first sign of trouble.” 

Panam fought back. “My people already made a DC of it. They’re working on figuring it out as we speak. We’ve already done more than what the drone could do. Once we have more info, they can prepare correctly and go take another look, hopefully tomorrow morning.”

“The battle drone can scan the beacon and identify its components. It’s more advanced than a regular drone. It’s not a perfect match to the equipment that the tech teams could drag out there, but it’s still a better option. We’ve been working on them but haven’t really had a reason to put one out in the field yet. I think this is a pretty good reason.”

V was shocked to see that Panam grew silent for a moment, actually appearing to ponder the idea. V was about to speak up but Parker beat her to it.

“It could work.. maybe. We would have to do some specific testing with the battle drones we still have.” He sighed abrasively before continuing. “Unfortunately she’s right. There is no guarantee that our tech teams can do anything concrete with the beacon, even with their advanced equipment. They would never make it all the way back to camp if a horde of Psychs found them, especially if they were uncloaked.”

Panam put her hands on the table, staring down at it for a while. She finally spoke out through gritted teeth. “Fine.”

**

The ride back to camp was silent and thankfully lacking any Psych events. V knew Panam was really struggling internally. She always had the best interests of the clan at heart but this situation was just all around tough. The whole world was like that now. She fixed her gaze out the window, her eyes set on the dancing sunset that skirted the sky. 

As they pulled through the gate, V placed a hand on Panam’s shoulder.

“Ya know.. We’re lucky to have you as our leader. You know how to make the hard decisions. Sometimes that means compromising and giving in to a gonk like Kasey for the good of everyone. We all trust you, Panam. I trust you.” 

Panam gave her a half smile before putting her head down on the steering wheel after parking the truck. “V.. This is all screwed up. I feel like everything is just getting worse.”

V nodded and rubbed her back. “Nothing is guaranteed. You’re always looking out for your people and that’s just one of many amazing qualities about you. Panam.. we will follow you through anything. We will get through this. You’ve brought us this far, now let’s just keep going.” 

Panam smiled fully now and pulled her into a hug. “Thank you. You’ll always be my most wonderful encouragement.” 

They sat there for another minute, enjoying each other’s calm company, before hopping out. Panam took the box from V and brought it to her tent. She had agreed to hide it in there safely for now, knowing V couldn’t keep it in hers. 

V walked towards the center of camp, noticing people were gathering around a small bonfire. She spotted Judy and felt a smile automatically fill her face. Wow she had missed her deeply.

Judy was sitting near the fire on a blanket, wearing one of V’s oversized sweatshirts. As V noticed that, her heart did a somersault. Judy was already partially looking for her, having heard the truck moments before. When she saw V walking towards her, she didn’t even try to hide her smile. V sat down next to her and pulled her into a hug before she even fully reached the ground. 

“Hey Jude.” She smiled, holding her tightly.

“I missed you baby.” Judy breathed out with relief.

“I missed you too, a lot. I’m here now, okay?” 

She felt Judy nod against her shoulder. After another minute they pulled apart and Judy moved to sit between V’s legs, back resting against her chest. 

V covered them with the rest of the big blanket. She encircled her arms around Judy’s sides, taking her hands in her own and pulling her fully back against her chest securely. She felt Judy relax into her. She toyed with her fingers and kissed her neck. 

“I like your sweatshirt.” V teased, resting her head on her shoulder.

Judy smiled and nodded. “Me too.” She moved one of her hands to the side of V’s head, playing with her hair. 

“How did things go today?” V questioned, relaxing at the touch.

“It was alright. Made some progress, mostly on other projects though. How about you?”

V sighed, unsure of how to answer. “It was.. tough? I don’t know. Lots of talk about the current problems.” She had to be careful about what she said while in the middle of camp. 

Judy nodded. “Did you guys reach any decisions?”

“I think so. I guess we’re going to test out some theories with battle drones that they have down in Red Timber. We’ll see what happens, and hopefully soon.”

Against her better judgement, she was about to mention the fact that Kasey had been there, but Jace suddenly came over holding a platter of s’mores.

Technically, they were synthetic discs with some flavoring that resembled the components of s’mores. But they were still pretty delicious. 

“Help yourselves.” He offered, mouth half full.

V laughed instantly. “Jace, we literally just got back and you already stole the whole platter of food?” 

“Um, definitely not. I thought I would be nice and pass them out. Guess you don’t want any.” 

He stalked away dramatically before V called him back loudly. She grabbed a couple off of the tray and muttered a thank-you. 

She went to hand one of them to Judy, accidentally dropping it. It bounced rather amusingly off of the blanket and landed in the dirt with a plop, causing V to laugh again. 

“Whoops.” 

Judy tried to sound surprised while holding back a laugh of her own. “My s’more! Hey!” She pouted and looked back to V.

V played along. “Sorry.. it’s just some dirt, see?” She picked it up and patted it against the blanket, pretending that cleaned it off. 

Judy smiled behind her hair. “Just some dirt huh? Fine then.” She grabbed the clean s’more from V’s other hand and threw it on the ground.

V just stared at it and frowned, earning an adorable laugh from Judy. Then she looked to her and smiled.

“Rude!” V gently poked her repeatedly in the ribs, as Judy yelped in surprise and her laughter increased. 

V stopped after a moment and pulled her into a hug, calming her down. “You’re so cute.” 

Judy rested against her as they ate their dirty synthetic s’mores, chatting with a few people throughout the evening.

Camp had calmed down, and they sat staring up at the stars, still cuddled under the blanket. Judy’s fingers were tracing up and down V’s thigh. Even with her pants on, she could feel every little electric movement. She sighed softly into Judy’s ear and wrapped her arms tighter around her waist. 

Judy brought both her hands to the insides of V’s legs, teasing slowly. V whimpered, trying to stay quiet. Judy smiled, knowing how easy it was to get her girl all flustered. As Judy reached her hands behind her, inching further up V’s legs, V had to grab her hands and stop them.

“Baby.” She breathed out with a quiet laugh. “You’re gonna make me strip you down right here in the middle of camp.” 

Judy smirked and turned around, facing her. She stared into those gorgeous green eyes. Whenever she looked at them, she felt the whole world melt away.

“Let’s go to bed and finish what we started this morning then.” Judy whispered, kissing her softly and running her hands under V’s jacket. 

V nodded abruptly. “Yes.”

They stood up and stumbled to their tent as fast as they could without being too glaringly obvious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was fun to write. The next chapter will be focused a lot more on Judy and V, I promise!


	3. Mine To Bear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for the support with this story so far, I really appreciate it! :)

Judy scoffed with annoyance as she tried to wipe the grease from her hands with an even greasier rag. 

“That’s kinda a lost cause isn’t it?” Carol observed as she walked over. 

“Yeah tell me about it. Nothing is really clean or new anymore, just recycled.” She gave up and threw the rag into an ever-growing dirty pile. “I’ll go to the creek one of these days and freshen stuff up.”

Carol laughed and tossed her a partially clean rag from her pocket. “Let me know when you go, I’ll give you all my dirty stuff too. What are you doing working on that anyway?” She pointed to the small motor sitting on the table.

“Eh, I told Mitch I’d deal with it for him since it was an easy fix. But it’s reminded me of why I work with clean tech and not dirty mechanical parts.” 

Carol looked to her again after a few minutes of cleaning off her workstation. “So did ya hear? Tech team from town is coming today, they are gonna show us the specs for the battle drone. It’s only been a couple days since they decided to go this route, and this whole thing seems a little strange to me but whatever.” Her voice was almost a growl. “Of course, nothing ever feels right when Kasey is leading the charge.” 

Judy nodded and rolled her eyes. “Yeah how is she leading the charge anyway? What happened?” She joked rhetorically as they both shrugged. “So she’s coming here today then?” She sat up in her chair and crossed her arms.

“Yeah unfortunately. She likes to let others do the work while she takes all the credit. Probably will see it firsthand today.” She noticed Judy’s mood shift. “What does V think about this?” 

Judy smiled at the concern. Carol and V had definitely not started off strong, but she could tell that Carol had actually grown to like V and would watch out for her, just like with Judy. 

“I don’t think she knows Kasey’s coming here today.” She was bouncing her leg a bit. “I might actually go find her if that’s okay, and also drop this off.” She picked up the motor carefully.

“Of course. I’ll see you at the briefing in a bit.”

“Alright. Thanks for the warning by the way, things might have gone bad if that gonk showed up and I wasn’t mentally prepared.” She stood and threw a couple punches into the air with her free hand.

“I can still see that happening.” Carol noted as Judy chuckled in agreement and left.

**

V sat on the ground with her legs crossed, as some pebbles rolled around in her hands. She was trying hard to push down her frustration. 

Her mind thought back to just a month ago. What an idiot she had been.

V had left her gun in Kasey’s care. But not just any gun, it was Jackie’s gun. Mama Welles had agreed to entrust it to her after his death, and V had carried it with her ever since. Leaving Night City, riding through desert and storm, surviving the biochip, launching into an apocalypse. It had gone through the best and the worst with her.

She knew she shouldn’t have left it with Kasey, but she had begged V to let her use it and clean it. V went back the next morning and the gun was nonexistent. She had scrapped it. She took the gold plating, components, everything. Kasey claimed it was more useful being parted out. That was it, no further explanation, nothing.

To say V was furious was a complete understatement. Even though she had been angry beyond belief with Kasey, she was even angrier at herself for being so stupid. Not only did she get Jackie killed but she allowed his gun to be destroyed like a typical piece of junk. 

Tears filled her eyes as she threw the handful of pebbles out in front of her, watching them scatter everywhere.

“I’m sorry Jackie, for everything. I’m so sorry.”  
She hung her head in her hands, eyes stinging as her palms dug into them.

She eventually calmed down as she took deep breaths and thought about where she was. She was sitting in a corner of camp, at the base of her and Judy’s favorite tree. It was located on the side of a surprisingly clean pond. They had spent many hours here, just being together. 

She thought of the times they had gone swimming at night here. One night in particular always stood out. The stars in the sky could have easily bordered on millions, and they lit up the night brighter than V had ever seen. The reflections from above that danced on the water made them feel like they were floating in space. V remembered the feeling of time melting away. It was just them, together in the stars. 

That night was at the top of her list, along with Laguna Bend, as far as the coolest thing she had ever experienced.

Judy is truly the star that lights up her darkest nights and her brightest days. 

After another moment, she heard Judy walk up as if she knew that V was longing for her. 

“Mi calabacita. Hi.” She sat down next to her. 

V smiled at her sweet voice. “Hey Jude. I was just thinking about you.” 

“Mm yeah?” She put an arm around V and kissed her before resting her head on her comfy shoulder.

“Of course.” V placed her hand on Judy’s thigh. “Sorry, I was going to come find you but I figured you needed to finish your project before the briefing.”

She ran a hand under V’s hair to the back of her neck, resting it there. “Hey that’s okay, yeah I just finished.” She paused, trying to approach things carefully. “I guess you heard about Kasey? How are you?” Her voice was soothing.

“Yeah.. I don’t know. When I saw her in town, I just felt angry. I hadn’t seen her in a while and it threw me off. But now I feel.. I don’t know.. lost.” She mumbled out her feelings, staring at the ground.

Judy could feel V’s sadness and she desperately wished she could take it away. “I know. I’m sorry, my love.” She pulled V closer to her and wrapped her arms around her. 

V produced another smile and felt her heart flutter as she cuddled into her. 

“Maybe I’m just being stupid.” She muttered after a moment, thinking about how this had been ruining her happiness.

Judy quickly put out that fire, taking V’s face in her hand and bringing it to hers. “Hey no, you’re not being stupid at all. You have every right to be angry. It pisses me off too. She destroyed the last piece of Jackie that you had.” She paused, meeting V’s sad eyes. “But remember, he is always in your heart and no one can take that away.” Judy knew that V still missed him every single day and that she blamed herself for his death. 

Judy grunted as V brought them both fully to the ground with a sudden hug. 

“What would I ever do without you?” V whispered, still latched onto her. “I love you.” 

“I love you.” she laughed, returning the hug eagerly.

They sat up and rested in silence, staring out at the tranquil water that they knew so well. The soft wind produced quiet ripples that skimmed the surface with ease.

For all of the chaos and death out there beyond the barricades, this place was a small glimpse of peace. A fragment of hope is better than a bounty of expectations.

“You remember that one night?” Judy questioned with a playful smile. “When it was just us, together in the stars.” 

Tears crept into V’s eyes as she smiled, butterflies ablaze in her stomach. “Mmhm.”

“It was.. just magical.” After a moment, Judy turned and kissed her cheek. “We’ll come back here soon on another proper date. But we should head back now.”

V nodded and they stood, patting the dirt off themselves. She looked to the sky as Judy softly took her hand. 

“I’ll be with you, okay? And just let me know if you want me to punch her.” She nudged her gently.

V smiled fondly at her, running a hand up her arm. “You can punch her anytime. It’s pretty hot when you get all protective. Of course.. You’re always hot.”

Judy smirked and pulled her closer. “Me? Protective? Never.” She breathed out dramatically. 

V giggled as Judy kissed her. She held her there for a moment, their tongues dancing together. She bit V’s bottom lip gently as they slowly parted, leaving V’s head dizzy and her cheeks bright red. Judy ran a thumb over her flushed face.

“Cutie.” She whispered happily before they walked back.

They headed to the outlook area where the teams were setting up. Mitch saw them and jogged over. 

“Hey V, got a favor to ask.”

“Whatcha need?”

“I know you’ve been working on the mapping files lately as a side project. I was wondering if you could use the specs from today and work on syncing them tomorrow when the drone is out in the field. The main tech teams will already be gathering the info tomorrow but the stuff you and Panam have been working on will be helpful too.”

“Yeah no problem, we should be good to go in the morning.”

Mitch thanked her and ran off again. Judy and V walked over to Carol’s station. At least the view was nice up here. Their camp was already situated on a slight hill, and from this specific vantage point they could see into the valley below.

“The interface is almost synced up here, this is definitely different than our drones.” Carol commented to Judy as they browsed through some data on the mobile terminal. 

Judy sat down on one of the portable chairs and started checking the stats on the Cloak. “Yeah, this will be interesting.” 

V stood near the table as she reviewed one of maps, hoping to distract herself by doing something useful.

Judy saw Panam approach with Kasey, as they walked around to get a final look at the prep work. She tried to calm the anger that shot through her. The desire to pummel her into the ground was still strong. That loser had hurt her girl - her adorable pumpkin.

V shifted a bit in an attempt to calm her own annoyance as she noticed Kasey as well. Guilt flooded through her yet again.

“C’mere baby.” Judy reached over and tugged affectionately on V’s hand, guiding her down to an empty chair on the other side of her. 

V sat down and relaxed as Judy’s hand joined fully with hers. 

They worked for a while until a few people passed out some food to the teams before the debriefing session. After they all ate, Kasey and her tech crew went over the specs on the battle drone in detail. Panam made sure they knew their assignments for the following day and Calvin gave an update on the DC of the beacon. 

Their work carried into the evening, ensuring that they were as prepared as possible. The whole situation brought a lot of uncertainty, which was nothing new, but this was more advanced.

As Judy and V finally walked back to their tent for the night, V stopped abruptly as Kasey called out to her. Judy looked to her output, gauging her thoughts but staying silent. V seemingly decided against stopping. She started walking again, Judy following hand in hand without question.

“Wait! V.. I’m..” Kasey pleaded and let out a small disgruntled huff. “I’m sorry.”

V stopped again, her grip on Judy’s hand increasing. She turned around and looked to Kasey. Judy was staring daggers at her while her thumb drew calming circles on V’s palm. 

“I’m really..sorry about everything.” She stuttered, grateful that V was still standing there. “I know I can’t change it now but I wish I could. I had no right to do it and I’m so sorry.” Her voice was shaking. “I just.. I needed you to know that.” She stared at V, trying hard to maintain eye contact.

It was quiet for a while, tension thick in the air. V thought of Jackie. He had drive, goals, passion, and the biggest heart. He was always looking out for others. Jackie knew how to live fully and without regrets. He wanted everyone to be happy. He wanted V to be happy.

She felt her throat tighten with a surge of emotions. “I forgive you.” She turned again and walked off with Judy, wanting to get away before she broke down. 

She flung the flap of the tent open and sat on the edge of the bed as Judy kneeled down between V’s legs and wrapped her arms around her waist, holding her as she cried. V gripped the back of Judy’s shirt in her fists as her head rested over her shoulder.

This had always been about more than just the gun. V blamed herself for Jackie’s death, and now his mom’s death too. When Night City was turned upside down, V had called Mama Welles to see if she had safely evacuated from the city. She told V that she had decided to stay. She wanted to be with Jackie until the very end. V begged her to leave but it was already too late. Her mind was made up: live or die, she wouldn’t leave her son’s side. V knew in her heart that Mama Welles was gone now.

V gradually calmed down as she focused on the hands that rubbed her back. After another moment, Judy pulled away and met her eyes, wiping the stray tears off her face with her thumb.

“You wanna cuddle?” Her fingers traced up V’s jawline and tucked some hair behind her ear. 

V nodded, eager to simply rest with her girlfriend. Judy helped V get her shoes and most of her clothes off before doing the same with her own. She crawled into bed and pulled V snug against her chest, covering them with the blanket. She held her safely in her arms, kissing her soft skin.

They laid together and talked about happy things. Despite all the bad that they had experienced during this past year, there were plenty of joys as well.

Judy recalled when V tried to push Jace into a mud pit but ended up slipping on the smallest rock imaginable and falling in herself.

V then coincidentally remembered the time when Judy got scared of her own shadow while they were returning with water from the creek. And as she jumped away from the terrifying shadow monster, she tripped and fell to the ground, bringing both her buckets of water down on top of her.

When they left a year ago with the Aldecaldos, they had no idea how things would turn out. Everything was so different now, but their love for each other had only grown.

And now they rested together just as they did every night, knowing that they could face tomorrow because they had each other. 

V’s eyes instantly grew heavy with drowsiness as Judy’s fingers sifted through her hair, gently scratching her scalp. She adored how V would get so sleepy whenever she did that, she thought it was one of the cutest things in the entire world. 

“Jude..” She mumbled, struggling to stay awake. “Thank you for being so wonderful. I love you.” 

Judy lifted V’s face and kissed her before gently resting it back down. “I love you, Valerie.” 

The daunting task ahead would bring a new set of challenges, and nobody knew what to expect.

But V had an overwhelming sense of peace about the upcoming day. She felt happy, alive, nervous, excited. She couldn’t wait any longer. Tomorrow was the day that she would ask the love of her life to become her wife.


	4. Forever And Always

“What?! How can it be gone?!” Panam rushed to where Mitch was standing with Kasey.

Mitch huffed angrily. “I don’t know. This is the exact location that we found it, and it’s just not there.” He shook his head in disbelief. 

Kasey scanned the surrounding area again with the battle drone, going slower. “There is no sign of anything else either, and it’s pretty strange that we didn’t see any Psychs at all.”

Panam put her hands to her face, letting out an exasperated groan. “We purposefully avoided the beacon site, and now it’s like it never existed. What if they somehow marked us?” She walked quickly to Judy, ordering Kasey to continue searching the area. “Judy, please tell me the Cloak is still normal?”

Judy nodded as she scanned the stats and flipped through the files. “Yep, all good here Pan. Nothin’ to indicate that something has gone down.” 

Panam felt slight relief at that, although her confidence in keeping her clan safe was fading. 

They went through the possible outcomes and solutions, frustration rising in the camp. Panam determined that they should focus on defenses. The battle drone found nothing of importance in its long search, causing more questions to arise.

She was trying hard to control her nerves as they held an emergency briefing. 

“Listen..” She sighed and looked to the teams. “I know we did a lot of prep work, and it probably seems like it was all for nothing now. We spent a few days preparing for this. But we learned a lot along the way, and it was still useful. We will work through this, just like everything else.” 

Her voice was strong but still somehow unsure. “For now, it appears that we are safe. I will be working out extra guard duties but we have no reason to panic. Just keep your eyes open and keep working on your normal stuff. We will coordinate with Red Timber as well and I hope to figure out next steps soon.”

By the time they had finished up and dispersed to get some rest, it was late afternoon. They knew things were still vastly uncertain and yet Panam had encouraged them all to find some relaxation too. 

There was nothing they could do except wait and attempt to maintain some sanity. Judy and V had stayed for a bit to talk with a few people, sorting through their thoughts. V finally convinced Panam to follow her own advice and take a break.

V leaned over Judy in the chair, wrapping her arms around her neck and kissing her cheek. “You wanna go on our date now?” 

**

Judy and V arrived at their tree, the sun shining its final rays of the day. They had gathered up some things and settled in quickly, eager to unwind from the discouraging meeting.

“I can’t believe you made me a BD.” Judy looked to V with complete adoration. “And what’s even more amazing is the fact that you made it without me knowing, that’s pretty impressive.” She chuckled as they sat down.

“Mmhm, I am pretty sneaky.” V felt herself being overtaken with nervousness. “I really hope you like it.” 

Judy looked to her again with a soft smile. “Of course I will, mi calabacita. You gonna tell me what it is yet?” She shifted a couple times.

V laughed, knowing how impatient Judy got with things like this. “You’re cute.” 

Judy sat snugly next to V, both of them staring out at the peaceful water. The rocky wall beyond seemed so far away, standing like a giant guardian etched into the sunset sky. V closed her eyes as she focused on the calming presence of the wonderful human next to her. 

“Is it you laying in bed with no clothes?” Judy guessed, squeezing the inside of V’s thigh.

V blushed quickly, her eyes still closed as she smiled. “Nooo silly, you can get the real thing any time you want.” 

Judy hummed and kissed her cheek before guessing again. “Is it you rolling down the hill out back?”

That one made V laugh out loud. “No, I learned my lesson the first time. That hill is not as smooth as it appears.” 

“Is it you driving around dangerously like always?” V was truly a crazy driver sometimes.

“Nope. But I’ll have you know, my driving skills are top tier.” 

“Pleaseee tell meee.” She shook V’s leg as she pouted.

V opened her eyes and turned to her. “Mm I don’t know.. it’s pretty adorable when you get all flustered like this. Plus I want to hear more of your fabulous guesses.” V winked at her rather cutely.

Judy gave her a pleading look. When she realized it was unsuccessful, she smirked and crawled into V’s lap, straddling her. If V wanted a game, she would get a proper game. 

Her voice was a husky whisper as she gently nipped at her earlobe. “Do I need to bring you to bed and make you tell me?” Her hands slipped down between V’s legs.

V audibly choked out a gasp.

She tried to stammer some form of a response but only whimpers surfaced from her mouth. Judy smiled as she kissed her dazed girlfriend. Her hands kneaded below V’s waist, coaxing a moan from her. She pulled away after a moment and V breathlessly looked at her with longing. Wow, that girl knew how to get her heart racing.

“I..” She squirmed a bit, struggling to speak. “Can we go there now?” 

Judy chuckled, her finger tracing distracting circles around V’s ear. “I thought you were gonna show me the BD?” 

“Uh.. yeah. Yes.” She slowly looked Judy up and down, running her hands along the legs that still straddled her.

“Don’t worry cutie, we can still have some fun later.” She winked and carefully climbed off her.

V tried to calm the hot sparks that still lingered in her entire body as she agreed to grab the small BD box. Judy watched closely, now sitting in front of V, both of them with their legs crossed.

She took a deep breath and opened the box, carefully handing the BD to Judy.

She let it rest in her palm, her smile growing. “So.. what’s on it?” She looked to V eagerly. “If you really don’t want to tell me, I can wait and see.” Her eyes were caring.

V smiled at her thoughtfulness, and put a hand on Judy’s knee. She took another deep breath, looking to her calming face. 

“It’s uh.. me. I managed to borrow a big mirror from town a while ago and I used that as I recorded. That way, you can see me. It was tough to get it done without you knowing. I really hope you like it.”

Her fingers played nervously on Judy. “It’s basically things I tell you everyday.. but I wanted to make this so you have it with you always. It’s not nearly as in-depth as our other BDs but I wanted to keep it simple. It’s pretty intimidating giving this to the best BD expert in the entire world.” She bit her bottom lip anxiously. 

Judy smiled and hugged her, holding the BD safely in her fist. She pulled back and cupped her other hand to V’s cheek, feeling the slight weight of V’s head as she leaned into it. 

“I’m going to love it, thank you. This is so thoughtful. Fair warning.. I will probably cry. A lot. But I can’t wait to see it.” 

She was almost crying already. V was the most considerate, wonderful, loving person in the world. She still couldn’t believe she was hers.

They got the base unit and wreath out, setting it up quickly. Judy loaded the BD in and put the wreath around her neck. She sat against the tree as V instructed. They looked to each other with excitement as V took her hand. 

“I hope you like it. I’ll be waiting for you right here.” Her hand was shaking a bit as Judy kissed her.

“Hey, this will be the best thing ever.” She squeezed her hand softly and exhaled with happiness. “Thank you for this, baby.” 

V smiled and helped her put the wreath into position before making sure she was snug against the tree.

“See you on the other side.” V gave her a soft nod and started it up.

Judy faded into the alternate world as the lights flashed in her eyes.

After a second of adjustment, she realized she was in the same spot she had just come from. The mirror was against the tree, with V sitting right in front of it, just like out in the real world a second ago. The sky around her was gorgeous, a beautiful sunset marked with streaks of fading colors.

V sat comfortably on the ground with her legs crossed, her hands resting together in her lap. She was staring at the mirror - at Judy.

Judy could instantly feel a swarm of joyful emotion and true love. Throughout every BD they shared, she was still always amazed that V felt those things because of her.

“Hey Jude.” She smiled with nervousness.

“Thanks for agreeing to watch this. I know this must be weird, the amazing BD tech expert watching something from her tech-challenged output. But I wanted to make this so that you would have a constant reminder of my love for you.

I wanted to say.. thank you. For everything. And I mean everything. 

I can honestly say, without a doubt in my mind, that I wouldn’t be alive today if it weren’t for you.”

V paused for a second, exhaling slowly. Her body was on fire with nerves, yet she had peace.

“When I went through everything with the biochip, I never thought I would come out of it alive. Every time I was weak, passed out, or vomiting blood on the floor, you were there in some way. You helped me through it. You encouraged me to keep going. You never let me give up, and I love you for that.

Thank you for staying with me. You didn’t even know if my life could be saved, and yet you walked by my side through it all. You refused to leave me and I can’t tell you how much that means to me.

When I woke up from the operation, knowing it was successful and I was still alive, I’m so glad that you were the first person I saw. That was the happiest hug of my life. I’m pretty sure we hugged for like an hour.”

V laughed slightly and wiped a few tears from her eyes, her voice shaking.

“We made it through that impossible challenge. I would have given up long before that, I’m sure of it. But you saved me. I need you to know that and never forget it. You gave me hope, a purpose, true love. You are my hero.”

She looked around and shook her head, taking in her surroundings.

“Who would have thought that this is where we would be now? We live in a constantly dangerous world, with uncertainty at every turn. I wish things were more certain. I wish I could give you a normal, happy, carefree life. You so deserve that. I will do the best I can every single day to give you the life you deserve here and now.

You are my constant shining star. Before I met you, I always thought it was impossible to feel this amount of love for someone. But here I am, falling more and more in love with you everyday.

You are my whole world. You are my strength, the one who lights my path. You saved my life in more ways than one. You are the reason I have happiness and peace and purpose. You are the reason I’m alive today. It’s always you, mi amor.”

V took a deep breath, her eyes sparkling with delight. Her heart was beating so fast it almost felt like it wasn’t beating at all.

“I can’t imagine spending this life without you. I am so desperately, incredibly, unbelievably in love with you.

So..

Judy - I have a question for you.” 

The last thing Judy saw was V’s sweet smile as the BD faded out and she was brought back to reality. Her body was charged with that raw, loving emotion. As her eyes adjusted, she saw V was there in front of her, in the same spot she had been sitting at in the BD.

But now she was down on one knee.

“Will you marry me?”

Judy felt her heart catch fire. The feeling that surged through her could only be described as happiness in its greatest form. She thought her body might float off to the stars right then and there.

“Yes!” 

V slid the ring onto Judy’s finger and stood, pulling Judy to her feet before quickly picking her up and guiding her legs to wrap around V’s waist. She held her securely, her hands under her thighs, as Judy’s forearms rested on her shoulders, hands in V’s hair. They were locked in a frantic kiss.

Pure joy. 

“I love you.” V breathed out through a smile.

Judy let out her own staggering exhale, tears flowing. “I love you too.”

Their hearts pounded with exhilaration. V’s bottom lip quivered as Judy caught her up in another kiss, desperate for more. Her hands dug into the bottom of Judy’s thighs as she felt herself filling with desire.

Judy broke the kiss and met V’s eyes intensely, both of them nearly whimpering from the frenzied need for each other.

“I.. I can’t even explain..” Judy’s voice shook with intensity and passion. “I love you so much.”

Their gazes held, staring into each other’s souls as V whispered to her. “You are the love of my life, forever and always.”

She was about to carry her to bed but Judy was crying into her shoulder, unable to stop.

V skillfully sat herself down at the base of the tree, Judy still wrapped around her. They sat entwined together, their hearts beating against one another furiously.

V gently pulled apart from her and looked to her. She simultaneously moved the hair out of her face and wiped her tears. Judy’s hands gripped V’s shirt.

“Hey baby, breathe.” She calmed her as she rubbed her back. “I want to marry you, not give you a heart attack.” She smiled at her teasingly and wiped some more tears.

Judy laughed softly and cuddled back into V’s shoulder, managing to talk after a moment. “I’m just so happy.”

As she breathed a bit more steadily, she took her left hand and rested it against V’s chest. “This ring is just beautiful.. I really really love it. Thank you.” 

V took her hand and kissed the ring. “Yeah?”

Judy lifted her head a bit and moved her hand to V’s cheek. “Yes.” She kissed her slowly but eagerly.

V hummed happily, holding the kiss for a moment. “I have an identical one, I’ll put it on as soon as we get back.” 

Judy smiled with excitement. “How on earth did you get them?”

“Well.. it’s a long story. But Lora made them. I gave her some materials that I had picked out and collected, and told her what I was envisioning. She did an amazing job.” Judy nodded in agreement. “And also..” V smiled and toyed with the ring. “There’s an inscription on the inside.” 

Judy moved fast, carefully but quickly taking the ring off. “What?! There is?” She observed it closely and whispered as she saw it. “Together in the stars.” Her crying began again, softly this time.

“Aww Jude.” V hugged her closely as Judy held the ring safely to her own heart. 

“What did I ever do to deserve you?” She sputtered out between her tears. 

“Did you not listen to that BD?” V chuckled and traced Judy’s cheek with the back of her finger. “I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you. I owe everything to you, my love.” 

They sat together in peace, pointing out the different stars as they began to fill the night sky. They reminisced on the things that brought them to this point, knowing that there were many more memories to come. 

Judy closed her eyes and relaxed in the presence of the arms around her.

One love - Two hearts - Infinite feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ll be honest - I teared up a bit while writing this. The chapter didn’t turn out to be as long as I had originally envisioned but I felt it was good to keep this part concise. I hope you enjoyed it :) More to come soon!


	5. Nothing Is Certain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took longer than expected to finish, sorry. I bought my first ever house last week - who knew it would be so much work? Everyone probably. Anyway, hopefully I will be able to get upcoming chapters out quicker. Thank you everyone for the awesome support!

*2 Months Earlier*

“They’ll be sorry.. all of ‘em.” 

Kasey lifted her head and looked through the dusty window of the shack. She spotted a strange looking man hobbling just outside. Apparently he was mumbling to himself. She rolled her eyes before closing them again, sinking further into the chair. 

“It could work.. just needs a Port. Didn’t even wanna.. listen to me.”

Kasey nearly fell out of her chair as she sprung up. She remained still for a moment, wondering what to do here. Was he talking about a Disruptor? Who even is he? Panic set in as she realized she couldn’t miss this chance. She rushed to the door, pausing before opening it slowly. 

“Sir?” She called out softly to the man as he walked away. “Sir!” Her voice changed to a low shout.

He finally turned around. “Huh?” He looked confused as she motioned him inside.

She closed the door once he shuffled in, checking to see if anyone was close by. 

“What’s this about?” His eyes narrowed at her.

She got right to the point as she rifled through some boxes that were hidden under a shelf. “Do you actually have a Disruptor?”

“You were.. were spying on me?” He seemed nervous.

She continued digging through the boxes. “You were walking right by me and talking to yourself. I have ears.”

He sat down in a chair and sighed. “Yeah I have one.” He placed it on the table. “Useless without a.. a Port. Your people didn’t wanna even talk about it.. said it was pointless... a waste of time” He stuttered a bit and scratched at his beard.

“Yeah well - ah ha!” She grabbed the Port and put it down next to the Disruptor. “Wow, you actually have one. Wow.” Her eyes scanned it intensely. 

“Wait you.. you have a Port?” He picked it up as she did the same with the Disruptor.

“Yeah, and no one here knows about it. I’d like to keep it that way.” 

“What.. not such a happy family?” He raised his eyebrows curiously.

She rolled her eyes in response. “Nothing against them personally but I need to get out of here. On my own. Been trying to find a Disruptor so I can do that, and then you come bumbling by. What are the odds of that?” She chuckled as he grunted.

They looked over the components for a moment until Kasey finally spoke again. “What do you want for it?” 

He looked to her and shrugged. “Gold.” 

She scoffed, mouth agape. “Gold? Like real gold?” She shook her head in disbelief as he nodded. “You do know that’s impossible to find these days. Like.. one-in-a-million, no chance, priceless impossible.”

He smiled after a few seconds of pointed contemplation. “You know wh.. where to get some don’t you?”

She remained quiet for a moment. “How did you..?” She paused, studying him. “Maybe.”

“Thought so. Well get to it then.. I’ll be waiting. Not sure.. how long your people will let me stay..” He took the Disruptor from her. “I have a plan that just might work.” He abruptly left the building.

Kasey stared after him for a moment, confused. How did all of this just happen to fall into her lap? How did he know about the possible gold? Who is he? She shook her head as she tried to rid herself of the questions. All she should focus on is the Disruptor. Her brain began plotting as she spoke out loud.

“I need that gun.” 

**

*Present Day*

Judy smiled as she saw V approaching the table. “Hey, love.” She placed her arm around V’s waist as she slid next to her on the bench seat. “I saved you some food, you should eat.” 

“Hi baby.” V mumbled and rested her head on Judy’s shoulder, placing a hand on her leg. “Thanks.”

Judy kissed her forehead. “Tired?” 

“Mmhm.” She groaned softly and shifted, wrapping both her arms around Judy.

Jace chimed in from across the table. “V, you seriously need a break. You’ve been working on the defenses pretty much nonstop. Plus.. if you take a break I’ll have time to fix your mistakes.” He joked as he took another bite of his food.

V scowled at him. “You wish you had my skills.” 

Judy squeezed V’s side. “Eat something please.” 

“Okay, fine.” She sighed and sat up fully. “You’re sweet, thank you.” 

She gave her a quick kiss before eating some of the leftover food. It was dry and didn’t taste like much but it was better than nothing. Pretty much everything is scare now and they had all learned not to complain about it.

Judy played with V’s hair and kissed her cheek before lightly running her hand up and down V’s leg. She soon felt a wandering hand on her own leg as V copied her.

“Ugh, you guys and your PDA.” Jace faked a noise of disgust behind his smile.

V scoffed playfully. “It’s been a year Jace, how are you not used to it yet? If you want, we can just start completely making out in front of you.” She raised her eyebrows at Judy who giggled as her cheeks turned pink.

Jace laughed dryly. “Nah that’s alright, as fun as that would be to watch.” 

Amarah walked over with her food and sat down. “Hey.” 

They greeted her as Judy passed her the water jug. 

“How’s the North Entrance looking?” V questioned between bites. 

Amarah groaned. “Eh.. feel like I only see more problems instead of solutions.”

Judy understood perfectly: her own projects were turning out the same way. “What do you think about that gate? Kinda weird.” 

She moved her hand from V’s leg to the back of her neck, her fingers playing under her hair. V shivered at the new, delicate touch as she finished eating.

“The opening mechanism? Yeah I’m not sure.. it is weird. Reminds me of the one in town though I guess.” 

“Yeah I guess.. we’ll see how it goes.” Judy sighed.

Jace and Amarah began talking about the upcoming patrol duties. Amarah blasted through her food and left to return to her work, Jace following as well.

Judy could feel V relaxing as she gently scratched her nape. She smiled and stopped moving her hand, watching her closely. V perked up a bit and lifted her head, the lack of hand movement seemingly waking her up. Judy began lightly scratching again, and watched as V got sleepy once more, her head drooping slowly. Her smile widened as she pulled V down, guiding her head to rest in her lap. 

She chuckled softly. “You’re so sleepy.” V’s eyes were closed now as Judy’s fingers continued to persuade her to sleep.

V muttered something incoherent as she tucked an arm under Judy’s leg snugly. With one hand scratching around her scalp and one hand rubbing her back, she didn’t stand a chance. She fell asleep immediately as Judy kept producing the soothing motions.

Judy so enjoyed the quiet and peace of these moments. She was always so honored that V felt that safe with her. She looked down at her and felt love fill her body and soul. Even after all this time, her heart fluttered when she looked at V, thought about V, anything with V. 

Panam ended up walking over and greeting Judy. Their leader seemed worse with each day of uncertainty that passed. Her eyes were more tired, hair more unkept, and smile more forced.

She tilted her head and bent down, looking at V. “Wow she’s asleep already? I just saw her talking a minute ago.” They kept their voices quiet as she sat down. 

Judy smiled again. “Every time.. falls asleep instantly. There was even that one time where she was wide awake, listening to Mitch give a report in the meeting tent. I did this to her, curious to see if it would work.” She was looking at V fondly. “Within a couple minutes she was actually asleep in her chair and Mitch yelled at her. She got me back for that later.” She chuckled at the fond memory. “But yeah.. it’s one of my many secret weapons.”

“Ha, I remember that.” Panam thought back and seemed to dwell on more peaceful things. “Well she’s always had such a soft spot for you, obviously. You are seriously the best thing to ever happen to her Judy.” She sighed and stretched. “So how’s the first week of marriage been?” 

Judy couldn’t stop smiling. “It’s been.. amazing. I mean, she’s always been amazing but yeah, being her wife is like.. really amazing.”

“I still say you should have let us do a wedding for you.” Panam winked, knowing it probably wouldn’t have happened. 

Weddings are nonexistent now - most of the old things of the world are nonexistent now. They couldn’t have made it official even if they wanted to, but what really is official now? They had a small celebration as a camp, which was perfect. Judy and V had agreed to forgo all the old formalities and call themselves married right at the proposal. 

Judy rolled her eyes slightly. “Nah, it was perfect.” She carefully looked to Panam. “So how are you? Honestly?”

She stayed quiet for a moment, her fingers drumming on the table. “I don’t know. This last year has been crazy, these last few months even crazier, and now this last week has just been.. insane. I’ve loved being the leader of the clan but this just feels impossible.” She looked to the table and exhaled harshly. “How am I supposed to keep everyone safe?” 

Judy didn’t know if she was looking for an answer but she gave one anyway. “You have been so great. We trust you and we know how hard you’re working, for all of us.” They had grown close and she really did trust her. “It’s not a matter of promising to keep us safe. It’s a matter of doing your best, and that’s exactly what you’ve done throughout this entire journey. You’ve gone above and beyond.” She paused. “One day at a time, right?”

Panam gave a half smile and nodded at their familiar saying. “One day at a time.”

Calvin called out to her and she nodded to him, rising from the table. “Thanks Judy. See you guys later.”

“See ya, Pan.” Judy watched her go, feeling discouraged about the amount of stress and dominating responsibility that was on their leader.

V stirred in her lap, no doubt from the excess noise. Judy looked down and moved some hair out of V’s face. 

“Hey baby, you wanna get up?” 

V groaned but turned onto her back on the bench seat, looking up to Judy through tired eyes. “I love you.” She hummed with a smile.

“You’re such a sap.” Judy teased and stroked V’s cheek with her thumb. “And I love you too.” 

They got up after a moment and made their way to Tech Depot. V needed a break from working on defenses so she went with Judy to her workstation. She sat down in one of the chairs next to the Cloak screen. Judy stood next to her, hand resting on V’s shoulder as she greeted Carol. 

“Carol, you get the daily report yet?”

She shook her head. “No not yet, not sure what to expect with that.” 

V tugged on Judy’s hand and pulled it to her chest, guiding Judy down to rest on her shoulders in the process. “Jude, look.”

As Judy leaned down and hugged her from behind, she nuzzled into her neck, kissing her behind the ear. 

“I’m already lookin’ at the best thing.”

V smiled and lost her focus as she felt the soft lips and warm breath on her skin. Judy lingered there a moment as V shifted in the chair. She let out a soft whimper of desire.

“Does this look normal to you?” She pointed to a spot on the screen, forcing her mind to work properly again.

“Mm let’s see.”

Judy reached out, still settled behind and around V. She scrolled through the screen a bit as she observed the stats. V rested her head against Judy’s, which was now next to her face.

“I think so.. looks a little low, but we can keep an eye on it.” She stood back up and placed both hands on V’s shoulders, massaging the muscle there. “Carol, I assume the Cloak has been normal lately?” 

V sighed contentedly and kept scanning the screen while looking through some notes.

“Yeah all good as far as I know.” She placed a couple of vision chips on the table. “These are good to go to the lockbox in the Vehicle Bay, just finished.” 

Judy nodded. “Alright, I can take them over. Was gonna grab a panel from over there anyway.” She glanced back at the screen. “Let me know if anything changes with the stats.” 

“Sure thing.” Carol nodded to her before moving on to another project.

Dylan, one of Carol’s assistants, came over after a moment and stared at them. “Don’t lose those chips, V.” His tone was demanding and serious.

V looked to him, eyebrows furrowed. Judy’s grip on V’s shoulders tightened.

“I.. I won’t. I technically didn’t lose the last one but-“

“Just let Judy handle it.” Dylan interrupted coldly. “Don’t want you messing anything else up. We’ve gone through enough with you, always causing trouble somehow..or death.” He turned and stalked off suddenly.

Judy glared at him, her jaw rigid. “What the.. absolutely not.” 

She was about to go after him and most likely end his existence, but V stopped her and grabbed her hand, gently pulling her back.

“Baby no it’s fine.” Her voice was sad.

Judy growled angrily as Dylan turned out of view but her expression changed as she looked to V, noticing her misty eyes. She sat down sideways in V’s lap and held her face in her hand. 

“Oh Valerie, it’s okay.” Judy soothed her as V closed her eyes, taking staggered breaths. “Hey, he’s an idiot. You didn’t do anything wrong.” She met V’s lips in a kiss, and felt sturdy arms wrap around her and pull her closer.

As they broke the kiss, V looked to her and Judy wiped away some small tears. “Mi corazon.” V smiled as Judy whispered to her.

She rested her head on Judy and held her for a couple minutes, their frustration dissolving partially. V’s thoughts raced and she felt doubt and regret flooding her brain. The worst part is that Dylan was right. Death and trouble seemed to follow her, and she has cost the Aldecaldos a lot. One of her greatest struggles was living with all of that guilt.

Judy looked to her with adoration as she moved the hair out of V’s face. “C’mon, we can go drop those off.” She traced up and down the side of V’s neck, causing her to smile and scrunch up her shoulder at the sensation. 

“Yeah.” She giggled as Judy continued tickling the sensitive skin.

Judy hummed at the cuteness and stood, taking V’s hand. She placed the chips in her pocket and led her outside. They walked towards the Vehicle Bay. 

Something caught V’s eye as they wandered through camp and she stopped abruptly. Judy grunted as she was halted too, and she looked instantly to V. 

“What’s wrong?” She followed V’s stare and squinted.

The wind was just strong enough to allow them to see under a corner of a tarp. It was among a pile of stuff outside a storage tent. There was a faint flashing light on the object, barely visible amidst the bright sun. Their expressions changed as they both registered what they were looking at. 

V exhaled slowly. “Is that.. the beacon?” The pile and tarp had definitely not been there earlier in the day.

“The real one? Yeah...” Judy nodded. “I think so.” Her voice was soft and slightly panicked.

They stood there for a minute before V finally snapped out of it. “I.. I need to find Pan.” Her heartbeat was quickening now. “Come on, I don’t want you staying near this.” She began to walk away but Judy stayed put. 

“I need to stay here and..” She focused on V as her voice wavered. “Make sure nothing happens with it and no one goes near it.” 

“Jude no-“ She was raising her voice a bit, trying to pull her away.

Judy steadied her as she placed her hands on her shoulders. “I’ll be fine, just be quick. I won’t go any closer to it, I promise.” 

V looked to her and knew there was no time to argue. She trusted her, and she had to go find Panam.

“I’ll be back soon, don’t do anything with it.” Her command was pleading as Judy nodded. “I love you.” 

“I love you too. Go find her.” Judy sighed shakily as V ran off.

A few tense moments passed before V came rushing back, practically dragging Panam with her. 

“Judy thank goodness - maybe you’ll tell me what this is about!” Her voice grew softer as they both motioned for her to keep it down. “What?” She followed their arm movements towards the partially visible device.

She started to walk towards it but V pulled her back. “Pan, it’s the beacon.” She couldn’t waste any more time. “The real beacon.” She quickly clarified at her look of confusion. 

Panam took a deep breath in but didn’t exhale. “What?” She hissed at V. “What do you mean? How? That doesn’t even make sense! How did it get here in the middle of camp?” 

V placed her hands on Panam’s shoulders, just as Judy had done with her moments before. “Pan, focus!” V took a deep breath. “You need to declare a Code Black. Now.” 

Panam tore her gaze from the beacon and settled on V, nodding. “Yeah.” Her voice was full of terrifying realization. “Yeah.” She pulled away and looked to them. “Um.. both of you, go and help bring the tech equipment over here.” 

She didn’t wait for their response as she raced off towards the South Entrance. She yelled into her portable emergency comm unit, announcing the code and giving out frantic orders.


	6. On And On

The camp was launched into chaos as the Code Black was announced. People rushed in all directions. Different groups focused on defenses, weaponry, tech, and organization. 

This was unique to anything they had experienced before. A beacon was sitting in the middle of camp and no one knew exactly what it was capable of. There was never a shortage of danger and uncertainty, but this reached new heights.

“Pan - what’s up?” V ran over to their leader. 

“Just got off the comms with Parker, told him what’s going on. He sent a couple emergency teams to help. They should be on their way right now. They can also look for Psychs.” She sighed deeply, mind racing. “Any change with the beacon?”

“No, still normal. Tech’s looking at it now.” 

V ran a hand through her hair as she paced the tent, trying to occupy her mind with anything else. Her and Judy had said their brief goodbyes as V left her to do her tech work with the team.

“What can I do?” She wanted, needed, to help.

“Well.. you can help me figure out who’s trying to sabotage us.” She gave a fiery look to V, anger seeping from her. “Any thoughts?” 

V pondered for a moment, unsure of what to even think. She had considered the fact that someone would have placed the beacon there, most likely intentionally. But she didn’t want to give it any worth.

“Uh..” She stumbled over her words. “I don’t know. You think it’s one of us?” She exhaled and looked to the ground. “I mean, I guess it has to be. I.. I don’t know.”

Panam nodded, glaring to the outside of the tent. “Well we need to figure it out, and soon. We need to know who and why.” 

V’s mind raced as she tried to piece everything together. “So the obvious question.. where are all the Psychs?”

Panam scoffed. “I have no idea. This whole time, we assumed that messing with the beacon would result in Psych city over here. None of this makes any sense.” She searched her brain for answers. 

A shout suddenly came through over the PECU. “Specters! Attacking the convoy! Over and out!”

Panam bolted out instantly, followed closely by V. They went straight to the South Entrance and climbed the guard tower.

“Where?” Panam questioned as they glanced around. 

The guard, Scott, handed her his scoped rifle and she balanced it against the wood railing, looking out to the distance. She could see fighting. The vehicles were tangled up in the field, dust flying. 

“They came from the east, fast. Didn’t see them until they were on top of the town convoy.” Scott got some extra ammunition ready to go as he spoke.

She groaned and shoved the rifle back in his hand. “Radio for a couple more snipers. They are too far out right now to shoot at, but if they make their way here, we’ll be ready.” She turned to V. “I’m gonna send out a couple of the standby teams. We have to help the convoy if we can.” 

When they arrived at the Vehicle Bay, the teams were already fully geared up and ready. “Hey. We heard the call, we goin’ to the convoy?” Jace hopped up in the bed of the truck. 

Panam nodded. “These two trucks will be fine.” She yelled out to the waiting groups. “Listen up! Get out there and do what you can. The Specters are already on the other teams - shoot to kill. If possible, save your ammo. Watch your backs for Psychs.” 

The trucks started up and Jace shook his head at Panam. “We’re waiting on Ryder. He was called to the North Entrance and isn’t back yet. We need a scrap bike if we end up having to sever any Psychs.” He booted up his vision chip. “The town’s scrap bike has probably been taken out already.” 

Panam sighed and looked to the other truck. She knew that no one here had been a scrap bike rider before, except for V and herself.

“I’ll do it.” V was already moving towards the bike, checking her pistol as she grabbed the extra gear from the shelf. 

“No way. We can get another rider and-“

“Pan, there’s no time! You saw ‘em out there, they’ll all be dead soon. I need to protect them, and our people too.” She sat on the bike. “You can’t leave camp. I got this, I’ve done it before.”

She stood next to her, hands on her hips, glancing out to the center of camp. “V.. you can’t leave without-“

“I know, I know. But there isn’t time.” The trucks started moving towards the gate. “Listen..” She took a deep breath and looked to Panam meaningfully. “If something happens..” She paused as she felt her throat tighten and tears prick at her eyes. 

Panam quickly interrupted, shaking her head as she backed up a bit. “Nothing’s gonna happen.” 

V reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back. “If something happens..” She repeated herself, staring at her intensely. “Promise me that you’ll take care of her.” V’s words were desperate and pleading. 

Panam put her hand on V’s shoulder and squeezed. “Hey, you know I will. I promise.” She whispered, her own eyes growing cloudy. “But you will come back.” Her voice was sincere as she leaned down and gave her a hug, before backing up and nodding to her. “See you soon.”

V nodded and lingered a moment, staring down at her left hand that rested on the clutch. She focused on the black ring that encircled her finger. She wiped her tears and took a shaky breath as she put a helmet on.

They sped out to the battle that raged in the distance. Jace was spotting from the truck in the front. He signaled with his hand, indicating that there were no Psychs in view at the moment. Their trucks stopped near the Red Timber trucks, and V slid in behind them, protecting the bike. 

It was hard to see exactly what was going on, and the dust that clouded the air didn’t help. V hopped off the bike, threw her helmet down, and fell in line next to the teams. 

“Thanks for coming! We’ve taken out a few Specters!” Ron coughed as he shouted through the dust. “They came out of nowhere!”

“What’s the plan here?” Jace questioned, staying low in the truck bed. 

V kneeled next to Ron. “How many do you think are left?” She gripped her pistol as she looked around cautiously.

He sighed. “I don’t know, maybe ten. They had a pretty good sized group.” He coughed again. “I think we’re all out of ammo now, since we were low to begin with. They’re probably out too.”

As if on cue, a few Specters raced towards them, holding various weapons. V stood and grabbed her regular knife. 

She turned to Jace who was lining up a shot. “Jace, save your bullets!” 

She took one of them on, while Ron and a few more people raced over to engage the others. 

V quickly dodged the swing of his club. She slipped a bit but lashed out with her knife, slicing him across the leg. He grunted as she scrambled to her feet. He took another swing but she easily sidestepped it and fell in behind him. She pulled his head back by his hair and slashed his throat without hesitation.

“V! eight o’clock, now!” Jace shouted, his finger ready on the trigger.

The Specter fell and she grabbed his club before it hit the ground. She turned slightly and swung hard to where Jace had instructed. The club cracked against skull as she connected, and another Specter crumpled to the ground. She kicked him onto his back and stood over him, stabbing him quickly in the heart to ensure he was dead.

V looked to Jace and nodded in thanks. Her expression changed and she shouted, pocketing her knife and raising her gun simultaneously. “Jace, down!”

He instantly ducked and V fired. The bullet rang out, hitting a man who had been silently climbing into the truck bed. 

“Clear!” She glanced around, finally able to see now that the dust was settling.

Jace got back up and looked to her after glancing at the body. “I thought we were supposed to save bullets.” He breathed out with a laugh. 

She chuckled. “Didn’t really have a choice there.”

Bodies littered the ground, some breathing, some definitely dead. Chaos swarmed. Sounds of fighting still filled the air but a loud cry of pain echoed above the rest.

V sprinted off towards Ron. A massive Specter had stabbed him in the shoulder with a spear and pushed him to the ground. V slammed into him before he could stab him in the chest, toppling both of them onto the rock-filled dirt.

V quickly kicked his spear away and readied her knife. She lunged at him as they stood but he grabbed her arm and kicked the back of her legs hard, sending her down to her knees. He punched her in the face, and she fell fully to the ground. His boot met the side of her head and stars instantly filled her vision. She was met with another strong kick to her ribs. She winced at the new burst of pain and he swiftly delivered another punt to the same spot. 

V struggled to breathe as she reached for her gun. The Specter grabbed V’s knife and plunged it into her thigh. She screamed out but quickly turned silent as he hovered over her, hands gripped at her throat and squeezing tightly. She desperately reached for the knife and yanked it from her leg, quickly thrusting it into his arm.

A bullet flew through the air and struck him in the other arm. He rolled off of her as he yelled. V looked to Jace through blurry vision. He had been tackled off the truck by someone as he sent the shot. A couple people from Red Timber raced over to the man who was trying to get back to V, pushing him back down and beating him with their weapons.

“Jace.. no.” Her voice was raspy and laced with pain. 

She groaned and forced herself to her feet, holding her bleeding leg. She stumbled over towards him and tried to steady her gun in her shaking hand. The Specter had grabbed Jace’s gun and shot him in the leg, now aiming it to his forehead. Jace’s low screams of pain and fear filled her pounding head. V lifted her blood-soaked hand and aimed, cursing loudly as she pulled the trigger.

V fell to the ground in what seemed like slow motion as the pistol tumbled out of her grip. She was unsure if she had even managed to hit him. She was unsure of everything at this point. As she hit the dirt, her vision went black. 

**

“Panam, do you copy? Over.”

Panam and Judy were waiting in the meeting tent while they worked on some notes involving the beacon DC. When Judy had been informed of the situation, she pleaded with Panam to get another group sent out to help, but she refused. The remaining people had to protect camp and continue working on the beacon. They had to be prepared for an invasion of Psychs. Panam, and many others, were still convinced it was coming.

Judy understood why V did what she did, and why Panam let her go. But when she didn’t offer any more help, even when they got a distress call upon the discovery of more Specters, Judy lost her patience.

Panam had the radio to her mouth instantly. “I copy, go ahead, over.” Judy perked up next to her, listening closely. 

“Convoy headin’ back now with the Red Timber folks. Seven injured from town and four from our camp.” There was a pause. “Three casualties - two from town and one from camp. Prep the Med Bay, we’re four minutes away. Over and out.”

Judy’s heart sank. 

V.

She looked to the ground as she took staggered breaths.

Panam spoke softly. “We don’t know-“

“Save it.” Judy wiped her eyes. “I’m gonna go wait for them.” She quickly walked out.

Panam hung her head and slammed her fist on the table. Had she made the wrong call? Here they were, still no Psychs. The camp had lost someone and Parker had lost people. She could only spare those couple of trucks, especially in the time they had. Those teams were ready to go and no one else had been available. 

She took a deep breath and pushed her doubts aside as best she could. She composed herself and went to prepare the medical teams, hoping nothing else would go terribly wrong today.

Judy and some others greeted the convoy as they stopped outside of Med Bay. She noticed instantly that the scrap bike was laying in the truck bed, which meant that V was unable to ride back. She forced herself to go look for her as tears filled her eyes again. 

“Judy, over here!” Mary, one of the drivers, called to her as she hopped out and lowered the tailgate of the truck. 

Judy rushed over and climbed up. V was laying down next to the secure bike, her body beaten and bloody. Her jacket was wrapped around her thigh. She went to her side, kneeling down and gently holding V’s hands.

“Baby.” She breathed out shakily, tears flowing down her face. 

V smiled softly. “Hey you.” Her subtle smile faded as she focused on Judy’s tears. “I’m so sorry.” 

Judy nodded and looked down. “I know. I just.. I thought you were..” She was still in shock.

V squeezed her hands. “I’m okay, I’m here.” 

Judy helped her sit up after a moment of calming down and looking over her injuries. V wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into a hug, not caring about the pain that burned through her body.

As they pulled apart, V carefully brought her hand to Judy’s face, wiping some tears. “Oh sorry.. I left dried blood and dirt instead.” She frowned. 

Judy gave a soft smile and wiped it off herself. “That’s okay, thanks.” She caught V’s lips up in a gentle, quick kiss. “We gotta get you checked out, c’mon.” She took her hands and helped her to her feet, holding her up carefully.

Med Bay was packed with clan members and townspeople. Thankfully, they were always prepared for the worst because of their ever-dangerous situation. Judy led V to a free bed and helped her lay down, sitting next to her. 

“V, here take this. I’ll be right back.” 

James handed Judy an inhaler. He was a highly respected doc in the camp and had helped immensely with V’s biochip operation. Judy thanked him as he left to go help someone else. 

“No, I’m fine. We need to save the meds for people who actually need them.”

Judy looked to V and shook her head. “You need it. You’re taking this medicine, Valerie.” She held up the inhaler to V’s mouth. 

V gently pushed her hand away. “I’m fine, really.”

Judy gave her a stern warning look and V thought better of her decision. She sighed, lowering her hand. Judy placed the inhaler to her mouth again and V took it, breathing in deeply. She coughed and winced, placing a hand on her ribs. 

Judy brought her hand to V’s face, tracing her cheek gently with the back of her fingers. “Thank you.”

V felt the medicine flood through her and ease her discomfort a bit. 

Panam came over quickly. “V, you’re okay.” She knelt down by the bed and looked to her with relief.

Judy glanced to Panam and reluctantly removed her hand from V’s face but she took V’s hand as a replacement, holding it and stroking her thumb along her wrist. 

“Hey Pan.. Jace okay?” 

Panam nodded. “Yeah I think so. They are working on getting the bullet out.” She tucked some hair behind V’s ear and V didn’t miss the glare from Judy. “Everyone else seems to be okay for the most part. But.. we lost Chris.” She sighed in frustration as V nodded. 

“I know.. I’m sorry, it was just so chaotic, I really tried.” She started tearing up and Judy rubbed V’s non-injured side soothingly. 

“Hey.. I’m fully convinced that the Red Timber teams would be dead if you and the group hadn’t gone out there when you did.” Panam gave her shoulder a pat as she stood. “I gotta go address a few things. You stay in bed. I’ll update everyone if anything new comes up.” She looked to Judy. “Judy, the tech team will call you if something changes with the beacon.” She gave them a final smile and left.

James returned after a moment and Judy helped him get V cleaned, bandaged, and stitched up. He determined that her ribs were badly bruised, but not cracked or broken. The wound in her thigh was pretty bad, and they would have to watch it carefully. She was tired and weak and felt as though her heartbeat brought pain with every steady thump.

As things settled down, Judy laid down next to her, covering them with a blanket. V stayed on her back and Judy cuddled gently into her. She traced her arm and held her hand, playing with her ring.

“I love you.” 

“I love you too, Jude. And I’m really sorry.. I didn’t mean to leave without saying goodbye and I just thought-“ 

“Hey.” She put a finger on V’s lips. “It’s okay, I understand. That’s how things are in this world now. But when you’re healed.. I’ll beat you up for scaring me like that.” They both smiled a bit. “I’m just so glad you’re okay..” Her voice was breaking. “If you were gone.. I dunno what I would do.” She buried her head into V’s neck and tried hard not to cry again. 

“You won’t get rid of me that easily.” V reached up and ran her hand through Judy’s hair. “Everything is uncertain except my love for you. I’m here and I’m yours.” 

They rested together contentedly. With every sore breath that V took, she was so grateful that she was still alive. 

Judy kissed her cheek. “Sleep now, baby.” She laid her arm across V’s chest, her thumb gently stroking her collarbone. 

V managed to sleep for a while, dreaming peacefully of her wife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are getting into the intensity of the story now. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	7. Clear As Mud

“Wake up, baby.” 

Judy kissed V’s neck and carefully ran a hand through her hair. V stirred a bit and was met with instant pain. She groaned and reached for her leg. 

“Mm easy.” Judy gave her another kiss. “I didn’t want to wake you but Panam is gonna hold a small meeting and wants us there.” 

V nodded and turned to her. Her heart dropped when she saw that Judy had been crying, and very recently. 

V mentally kicked herself. How much of a gonk was she? Here she was, selfishly sleeping away, while her wife was crying next to her, still in shock with what had happened. Judy had almost lost her. The fear of death and loss had always rested heavily on Judy’s heart. V just made her go through all that again, and she hated, despised, herself for it. 

She brought a hand to Judy’s cheek, holding it softly. “Hey.” She met her deep brown eyes with concern.

Judy held her gaze for a second but looked away quickly. “I’m alright.” She shifted and got up, moving to V’s side. “C’mon, I’ll help you.”

V took some time getting up but she was eventually standing and letting Judy guide her to the meeting. 

“Jude.. I’m sorry.” V whispered after a moment. “I can’t believe I just passed out when you needed me.”

Judy stopped and turned to V, still holding her up. V was grateful for the quick break from hobbling. “Hey it’s okay, I wanted you to sleep. I’m glad you were able to. I just.. needed to process some thoughts and feelings. You know I’m not the best at that.” She gave a half smile. “But I’m glad that I didn’t lose you. Even though now it’s gonna take us all day to walk anywhere.” A smirk emerged from her smile.

V scoffed teasingly. “Wow, insulting your injured wife. That’s a new low.” She brought her hand to Judy’s face again. “But I guess I deserve it.. I’m sorry. I love you so much, always.” 

Judy smiled softly. “I love you, V.” She shifted and steadied her as they started off again. 

They arrived at the meeting, along with a few others that Panam had called. Judy found them some chairs and they sat down. V took Judy’s hand in her lap as she always did.

V noticed Parker talking with Panam and Mitch. Her heart dropped yet again as she remembered the bloody mess out in the desert, and how a few people didn’t make it. She knew Panam was struggling with her decisions thus far, and wondered if Parker was too. 

It was easy to judge the decisions of a leader and say you would have done things differently, better, more effortlessly. But if you were put in that position, suddenly it wouldn’t be so easy to make those tough calls.

Panam walked over to Judy and V after a few minutes. “Hey V, how’re ya feeling?” She looked her injuries up and down.

V shrugged. “I’m alright, got some sleep.” Her eyes subtly flickered to Judy with guilt.

“That’s good, thanks for coming. I just felt that we needed to brainstorm as a group about this whole thing and see if it helps. When we’re done you should head back and get the bandages changed.” She sighed and her eyes dropped to the ground. “Anyway, guess we’ll be starting soon.”

V was about to say something that she hoped would be encouraging, but Panam was already walking away. Judy squeezed her hand and V looked to her. 

“You okay? How’s the pain?” She observed her leg attentively. “James said he would give you more medicine when we go back but I should’ve given you some before we left.” She frowned a bit and moved V’s hair to get a look at the stitches. 

“I’m alright baby, thank you.” 

Judy leaned over and kissed her, which melted away her discomfort. V held onto the kiss for a moment, eagerly taking in the thoughtful movement of Judy’s tongue. Her lips trembled slightly as they parted, settling on her misty bronze eyes. 

The butterflies were set ablaze, but too quickly extinguished as V felt that looming regret fill her again. Judy smiled wearily and slowly looked away as Panam addressed everyone.

“Thanks for coming, I know this day has been.. a lot.” She glanced at Parker. “We’re obviously missing something here - an important piece. I want us to go back to the basics. So let me hear it.. what are we missing? Any ideas are welcome, shout ‘em out.” She looked around expectantly.

Mitch chimed in after a moment of silence. “This beacon.. it’s not working as we thought it would.” A few people nodded in agreement. “So what we know.. is that the beacon was placed in the valley roughly two weeks ago. Right now, we just have rumors to go on. The Psychs plant these beacons. Their purpose is to either identify the location of hostiles, mark down a path, or show a place to regroup in the future. We don’t know how to tell the difference between those just by looking at the beacon.” He stood and paced around. 

“Why they’re able to place the beacon is another question that remains unanswered. Now.. what about the Psychs? Why aren’t they here? If the beacon was moved and tampered with.. it should’ve set off an alarm that drew them to it.” He looked to Panam. 

She sighed and shook her head. “Well.. why were those idiotic chrome-covered robots created in the first place?” Her eyes flickered among the group. 

V spoke up, to distract herself from the pain if nothing else. “To carry out commands in the big cities and administer law and order. Or at least that’s what the corporations claimed. Then when the bots took over through The Ripping, they started jacking into and killing anything with a pulse. Not to mention they managed to multiply and clone themselves before the cities shut down. So much for the helpful restorers on every street corner.” V scoffed at the old slogan. 

“Right.” Panam nodded. “And that’s what we heard from outside the cities, imagine how much more was going on that we never knew about. So.. things went terribly wrong, and some of them eventually made their way out of the cities, to places like this. We’ve been able to deal with them a few at a time and gradually learn more about them. This beacon was the first true unknown. And now it’s in our camp, but nothing has changed.”

Judy spoke as Panam paused. “I think it’s probably been deactivated somehow, hacked.. like the signal’s jammed. The network was hacked during The Ripping. By the time the Psychs took over, they went from using the backdoor to becoming the only door. Their creators were the first ones to lose control of them basically. The same thing happened with the beacon, just on a much smaller scale.” She shrugged, still thinking.

Calvin nodded and pointed to her. “I agree. I’ve been thinking about it a lot and it makes sense. Someone placed it here to scare us, distract us, something. But somehow, crazily enough, they were able to disrupt the signal, meaning the Psychs don’t know it’s been tampered with. More than likely, it’s been completely erased from the grid. The study we did on the DC gave me the impression that it possesses the hardware for that to be possible.” 

He leaned back in his chair. “But who would go through all that trouble and place it in camp? If they actually have the ability to deactivate it, why not be proud about that and share the knowledge with the rest of us? They obviously have an ulterior motive.”

Parker suddenly slammed his fist on the table, making everyone jump. “Kasey.” They looked to him in surprise as he sighed and explained. “A couple months ago, this guy came to town. He was.. I don’t know, weird and talking nonsense. He never even told me his name. He claimed to have a Disruptor from one of the cities.” The group looked to him in shock.

“But..” He confronted their concern. “That’s too good to be true, right? If you don’t know, the Disruptor basically allows you to shut down Psychs and their devices. It was something that high-end techies had in the cities when everything went wrong. This guy.. he was going on about needing a Port and I never had even seen one. I ignored him.. I remember that day was really busy. For that guy to actually have a working Disruptor? No way.. and even if he did, it was useless without the Port.”

Someone from Red Timber chimed in. “I think I remember him, mostly kept to himself though. He would leave and then come back randomly too. So what’s a Port exactly?”

Calvin lifted his hand a bit as he offered an explanation. “It’s the unit that allows the connection between the Disruptor and the Psych, or their device, to be established. Basically, it’s the plug you use to jack in and make changes or shut them down. But it can actually be modded so that you don’t have to physically connect. It can be used from a distance.” He spoke quickly, turning back to Parker. “Wait.. so are you saying Kasey had a Port? How?”

Parker shook his head and shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. The guy stuck around a bit. He kept his distance but I saw him talking with Kasey on a few occasions. I just figured they had weird stuff to talk about or he was bugging her because she was tech. He never mentioned the Disruptor to me again so I assumed he in fact didn’t have a working one, and he definitely didn’t have the Port.” He sighed harshly.

“He eventually left for good, which wasn’t too strange because he was a loner. Kasey seemed to do a lot of work in secret after that. She grew even more distant. None of these things were really concerning as they were happening.. but now it’s starting to make sense. If she managed to salvage those things and get them working.. I know how she is and what she’s capable of.” Parker looked to his people and was met with apprehensive agreement.

V huffed quietly and shifted in her chair, and Judy could tell she was agitated from both the pain and this new information. She smiled softly as she noticed V bouncing her good leg up and down. She had picked up that nervous habit from Judy. She squeezed V’s hand and looked to her warmly. V took a deep breath and ran her thumb along Judy’s hand as she held it.

Panam had her arms crossed angrily. “What about the whole battle drone idea she came up with? It seems like the perfect distraction to me. She needed more time.. so she convinced us not to send groups to the beacon. She had already moved the beacon by the time she was controlling the drone with us. That’s why we couldn’t find it anywhere.” Her mind was racing with frustration as everything clicked. “I mean, how stupid can I be? The whole time, right here in front of me.” 

Calvin shook his head, knowing it wasn’t her fault. “Nothing we can do about that now, Panam. The real concern is that if she deactivated the beacon, she can reactivate it at any time.” He looked between the leaders.

Panam looked to Parker. “I say we move the beacon and fast. Now that we can assume it’s non-operational, it shouldn’t do anything bad if we move it.” Some of the others nodded, along with Parker. “Alright, let’s head over there now and take a look.” She led the group out of the tent.

V waddled along with the help of Judy. She was trying to convince V to return to Med Bay and finally succeeded when V’s head started spinning again. They told Panam what was going on and went back to see James. 

As V sat on the bed, she looked to Judy and took her hand. “Hey, I’m sorry. This is so messed up. You should be out there helping with the beacon.. they need you, you’re the smartest clan member.” She smiled and kissed her hand.

Judy rolled her eyes. “You need me, you gonk. I’m staying with you.” She sat next to her as they waited for James. “You need to take it easy.. like seriously.” She eyed V suspiciously, knowing that what she was ordering was pretty much impossible for her.

V smiled and pressed a light kiss to her wife’s lips, her hand moving to the inside of her thigh. Judy noticeably relaxed and leaned in closer, bringing her hand to the back of V’s neck. She was careful to avoid the injured areas as they both took in the sensations. V attempted to pull Judy into her lap but she was quickly stopped.

“Baby!” She pulled away and smirked at V’s pouting face. “Did you not just listen to a word I said?” 

V gave the cutest smile she possibly could. “I always listen to you, my love. You’re just.. so hot.” 

She kissed her quickly and Judy giggled in surprise. V’s knee received a small slap as Judy stared at her with playful eyes.

“I love you.” 

They both spoke those words at the same time. That feeling of pure love and adoration hung in their hearts. As every second passed throughout their lives, that feeling only grew stronger.

But things were more dangerous now, more real. How long could they really hold on in the current state of the world? Surely death would soon catch up to them. But they’ve never given up thus far and they wouldn’t be starting now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a shorter, info-heavy chapter for sure but I felt it was necessary at this point in the story. Thank you for continuing to follow along!


	8. My Everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry that this chapter took so long for me to get out. Things have been crazy for me lately. But I hope you are all doing well, and as always, thank you for the support :)

“So there is no way to completely disable this thing?” Panam looked to the tech team, searching for answers. “To make sure it can’t be turned on at all again?”

Calvin shook his head and stared at the beacon. “I don’t.. I don’t think so. Not without triggering it and setting it off. The only thing I can think of is seeing if Kasey can permanently keep it off the grid.” He scoffed. “Which seems like a big ask at this point.”

“Yeah definitely.” Panam looked to Parker. “Is there any way you could talk to her? We need some answers.” 

He kept his gaze focused on the beacon for a moment. “Maybe.. but if something goes wrong, or she gets angry, she can easily reactivate it.” He shook his head. “It’s a risk.. but yeah, I can try.” 

Panam let out a long sigh and placed her hand on his shoulder. “Parker.. I need you to know I’m truly sorry for all of this.”

“I know. It’s okay, Pan. We’ve all had to deal with loss. It’s no one’s fault.” He sighed and stared at the beacon yet again. “This whole thing is just crazy. I need to figure out what’s going on.”

As he prepared to head back to town, Panam and some members of the tech teams were starting to carefully load the beacon into a truck.

“Parker, we have a problem. Kasey just stole a vehicle and is headed west, fast. Looks like she is leaving for good. A few people have confirmed that weird guy is with her too. Should we pursue them? Over.”

The PECU message came through and left them all looking to each other. He was back? Why was he with her? Where were they going? Parker finally responded, cursing as he ran his hand down his face. 

“No.. no. Don’t go after them. We don’t need to lose anyone else. I’ll uh.. I’ll be back to camp soon for a debriefing. Over.” 

“Right. She’ll be passing the Cloak boundary soon anyway. Over and out.”

“Well I guess that’s the answer we were waiting for.” Panam looked to the beacon in anger. “If she-“ 

A loud, single beep pierced the air, making the surrounding people jump a bit. Panam’s heart dropped. She knew what it was but didn’t want to accept it. 

“Was that..” She looked to Mitch and Calvin and was met with subtle nods. 

“The beacon’s been reactivated.” Calvin stepped back from the truck. “They’re gonna be here soon.” 

They stood in stunned silence. 

“Pan, get everyone ready. Now.” Parker quickly got back on the PECU, informing the town of what had happened. 

She did the same with her clan once he got off the comms. Once again, they were sprung into chaos and madness as they prepared for possible incoming Psychs.

Mitch turned to her as he pulled up the Cloak stats on the portable screen. “Panam.. look.” She was staring over his shoulder in an instant. “The Cloak.. the beacon must have messed with its signal strength or cut it off or something. It’s basically just.. down. We’re exposed.” 

Without that invisible barrier around them to blind the Psychs and keep the town and camp effectively hidden, they would be in even more trouble. The beacon would pull the Psychs to them regardless, but the Cloak would offer necessary support and protection after that wave of enemies were taken out.

She didn’t take her eyes off the screen. “Can you get it back up remotely?” 

“I don’t know.. probably not. Is Calvin or Judy around? They’ve been working on this and know the coding better than I do. Plus they were on the original team that set it up and have dealt with it being disabled before.”

“I’ll find Judy.. Calvin went to help out with the E-Weapons. Keep an eye on it.” Panam went to go find Judy and soon saw her coming out of Med Bay with V. “You shouldn’t be out here.” Panam looked to V as she approached them.

She scoffed. “Yeah okay. I just got fresh stuff, I’m ready to go and I want to help. But I’ll be careful.” She looked to Judy as she said that, pulling her closer to her.

Panam sighed and turned to Judy. “Hey, Mitch needs your help. The Cloak is down and he wants you to take a look.” 

She nodded and went with V to talk to him.

The Aldecaldos worked on readying weapons, securing the gates and defenses, and preparing for the aftermath. Hopefully they would be alive to deal with the aftermath. Parker and his team stayed in the camp and he had ordered the rest of his people to stay in Red Timber for now.

The more vulnerable people from the clan worked on helping from hidden spaces. Panam had prepared them well for this. Everyone had a job and a purpose, similar to how the camp operated day in and day out. 

It wasn’t long before one of the guards spotted some Psychs coming from the south-east. They must have been on the outskirts of the borders. It was scary to think that Psychs were wandering around out there and no one knew exactly how many.

Panam gave some final encouragement as the groups gathered together before getting to their stations. “Alright, here we go! Remember the procedures and keep them from breaching the defenses for as long as possible. Use ammo as you need to and don’t get any closer than necessary!”

“Mitch, what’s going on?” Judy went to him and looked over the screen, still holding V’s hand.

He got out of the way so she could get a better look. “It’s just.. I don’t know. The Cloak’s down but it’s not normal. There’s an error message with one of the pillars. I don’t get it.”

She got to work, reading through the stats and checking the operational settings. “Yeah.. it’s showing the west pillar is down. But.. almost like it’s been destroyed, not just disconnected.” She checked the specific error message and bypassed the first layer of cryptic information. “It was destroyed.. just a few minutes ago.” She tried once more to reboot it. “Yeah.. nothing.”

He groaned. “I bet it was Kasey. Maybe she hit it with the truck as she left.”

Judy thought about that for a moment. “Yeah maybe.. it isn’t that strong. I guess that’s possible. It’s the only explanation so far.” 

“So that means we can’t get it back up without going out there.” He closed his eyes in frustration as she nodded. 

“Yeah and maybe not even then.” She stayed focused on the screen, running through options in her head.

Panam returned to them and handed each of them a freshly-checked gun. “Here. Watch your backs. The perimeter teams are in position. If the Psychs happen to break through, we need to be prepared. They’re almost here.” She jogged back to the eastern barricades and checked in with Parker. 

V looked to her wife as they both tried to take steady breaths. “I love you, Jude. We got this.” 

She nodded and gently held V’s cheek, bringing her in for a kiss. “I love you too. Please stay by my side.” 

“I will, baby.” She hugged her and relaxed in her warmth. “Let’s go see what’s happening.”

They walked with Mitch to the barricaded wall. A few shots fired as the snipers took out some of the smaller Tracker Psychs. Those could be disabled with a well-placed bullet to their core but the bigger ones would be harder to eliminate. 

Panam shouted out to the nearby clan members. “Remember, we can’t get out there and sever them so watch for more movement! We’ll get some scrap bikes to ride out as soon as possible!” She stepped away from the group and connected with the Vehicle Bay through the comms.

For a little while, things seemed to be going smoothly. Some small groups of Psychs descended onto the camp, having been drawn to the beacon. They were easily taken out from a distance, with a few larger X-porters requiring more close combat and a couple extra bullets. 

Panam was even able to quickly send out a group to sever the Psychs. That was important for ensuring they couldn’t reactivate or get more backup to their location with the distress signal. Usually that process took some time to happen, but she didn’t want to take the chance of waiting too long.

“What the..” Scott was looking through his scope and slowly raised his head as he saw what awaited in the distance. “Um that’s bad.” He quickly looked for Panam and called her over.

She looked through the scope and cursed under her breath. “Okay..” She slowly stood. “Let me know if anything happens or if it changes course.” He nodded and she raced off towards Parker. 

V and Judy were close by and heard Panam approaching him. “Parker!” She pulled him away from the others slightly. “There’s a massive Psych out there, like really big. We’re gonna have to prepare for that thing busting through. I’ve never seen anything like it: this could be really bad.”

“Great.. so what’re you thinking?” His eyes shifted nervously to the barricades.

“Well.. if you want to tell your team to fall in place along the South Entrance, they can watch the town too. We’ll be fine over here on this side. I just needed you to be aware: you might want to give a heads up to the town.” 

He placed his hand on Panam’s arm and V could see the meaningful look they exchanged. They stood there for a moment before he smiled and left to go round up his team.

“Pan.. what can we do?” V moved towards her, Judy’s hand in hers.

“Prepare for the worst.” She looked really nervous, which was rare for her. “We gotta just do our best and get through this.” She nodded to them and returned to Scott. 

Judy let out a soft sigh. “Seems like we always have to do that.”

V wrapped her arms around her. “Yeah. But we’ve survived the worst too.” She kissed Judy’s neck, taking a moment to breathe her in. “And we can do this.” Her lips trailed around her cheek and settled on her mouth, giving her a sweet kiss. “I’m so lucky to have you, Jude.”

Judy looked to her and smiled. “You’re my everything. No matter what happens.”

They joined the others along the wall. Everyone was staring as the Psych approached. It instantly made V think of the big Cyberpsychos back in Night City, except it was about triple the size and a thousand times more terrifying. This was a full chrome killer robot, and no one here had ever seen one before. She greatly hoped this was the only one that would be making an appearance.

Panam ordered the snipers to hold their fire after they had released multiple rounds into it with no success at even slowing it down. Calvin brought some E-Weapons to them and they shot the electrified spear-style rods at it, which actually managed to slow it down and cause some short circuiting.

Still, it came closer and seemed angrier than ever. Did these things have some sort of mock emotion regulation? It certainly seemed very angry. Thankfully, it appeared as though most of the other normal Psychs had been taken out, except for a few strays.

As a last effort, the teams threw some more rods into the Psych but the giant brought its wrecking ball fist down onto the barricades, shattering them after a couple smashes. The clan was further back now, still firing guns and throwing electrified weapons. 

“Guys come on, we gotta give it more than this!” Panam paced behind the group, helping to keep them focused. 

Scott fired a massive electrified bolt at its core, making it stumble. V and Judy helped to ready more of them. It wasn’t a secret that they were growing low on all types of ammo. The clan members lined up and prepared to fire the projectiles.

“Alright.. now!” She yelled out as a few people shot off the bolts, hitting it with force.

It fell to the ground and crackled with burning electricity. Panam sighed and placed her hands on her head, staring at the mound of chrome. 

A few shots echoed off around them as the last of the Psychs were brought down. The beacon shouldn’t attract any more of them now but no one fully believed that. Was it really over?

A team carefully approached it and spent some time severing its connection. A lot of scrap could be taken from it at least. 

She stood and looked around. “Is everyone good?” She had tried her best to keep them back and out of reach. 

She was met with some nods and murmurs of agreement. Her eyes found Parker and stayed focused on him. He had returned to the group after getting his people in position. He looked shocked but unharmed. 

A hissing sound broke the silence. They all looked to the giant Psych as Calvin and the small team that had been helping to sever it stumbled backwards. 

He screamed out before quickly dropping to the ground. “Everyone down, now!”

It exploded with seemingly millions of pieces of shrapnel. The time in that moment was only measured by fear. 

V grabbed Judy around the waist and threw her to the ground, slamming herself down onto her to cover her body. Pain surged in V’s ribs and leg but she only yelled out through gritted teeth once she felt sharp metal pieces riddle her back. 

And just like that, it was over. An instant detonation and then nothing. She forced herself to get up off her wife and check on her. 

“Judy.. are you okay?” 

V felt blood soaking her back as her tattered cloth of a shirt gently moved in the breeze. Judy scrambled to her knees and looked to her. V could see she had a few scratches from stray pieces of metal but nothing major. That was one of the biggest reliefs she had ever felt. 

She brought a shaking hand to V’s face. “Baby.. hey.. easy.” Her voice was breaking and her eyes were filling with tears as she saw the damage.

“I’m okay.. I’m okay.” V stayed still and kept her eyes trained on Judy, helping to reassure her. “I’m okay.” 

She shifted a bit, moving to her knees and placing her hands gently on her thighs as she took shallow breaths to minimize the pain. Her body was pumping with adrenaline and she knew the pain would be increasing soon. Her eyes were shut and facing the ground as she listened to Judy’s calming voice. She was telling her how much she loved her. 

V looked up again to respond but her heart skipped a beat when she noticed no movement from the body that rested on the ground a few feet away. 

“Panam.”

She swore she heard Parker say it at the exact same time as he crawled over to her, leaving a trail of blood along the way.

“Panam!” He yelled again and checked for a pulse, collapsing in relief as he found one. 

“V.. can you stand? I need to look at you.” Judy was full on crying now. 

She nodded and slowly stood. “I’m okay, baby. We’re okay.”

Others were beginning to get up as well. Most of the injuries appeared to be surface level but it seemed like a few people weren’t so quick to drop when Calvin called out the warning. If you had been standing up, ready to receive the bigger pieces of flying metal at full force, you would be easily sliced up. 

She checked V’s thigh, which had started bleeding through the bandage again. Her back was layered with small shrapnel, but nothing looked too deep.

Judy wiped a few tears before more started to form. “You need to stop risking your life for me.” She whispered softly through a smile.

“You’ve saved me countless times, love. I will always do everything in my power to protect you.” V took Judy’s hands as their foreheads pressed together, just breathing and trying to instill calmness.

The calm never lasted for long though.


	9. Hoping For Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope to be publishing the future chapters more frequently. Thanks everyone for sticking with me!

Build. Destroy. Rebuild.

Red Timber and the Aldecaldos had been stuck in the ‘destroy’ phase for a while. Even though they had completed a lot of preparation for these moments of destruction, they were still being overtaken with problems. 

Since the recent attack, Panam and her teams had spent the last couple days attempting to move to the ‘rebuild’ phase. They were repairing defenses, gathering more resources, and trying to return to some form of normalcy.

Med Bay had quickly become the busiest part of camp. Injuries of varying degrees seemed to plague most people, and a few were in critical condition.

Parker and the rest of his people had gone back to Red Timber to regroup and get extra supplies for the camp. Things were slowly being pieced back together and now it was time to deal with the Cloak.

**

“We’ve been exposed for days: we can’t risk any more Psychs showing up. The few that have managed to come through were easy to take out but this has to be a priority.”

Panam leaned against the table as she spoke and V could tell she was still in pain. A lot of them were, including herself. But she was trying her hardest to be strong, especially in front of Judy. To say that her wife had been worried was an understatement. Judy had been distressed and nervous regarding V and her injuries, and V felt guilty beyond belief.

Judy felt her anxiety grow as Panam looked to her. She knew what she had to do but that didn’t make it any easier.

“I can take a team of volunteers and try to figure it out in the field.” Judy noticed V’s hand stiffen in her own. “I’m not sure if it’ll work but we would have to try to fully repair the destroyed pillar. The other ones should still be operational.” Her voice tapered off and she didn’t move her eyes from the table.

Panam nodded and grunted as she stood. “Thanks Judy. I know it’s a lot to ask right now but you and Calvin are our best options.” She glanced at Calvin, causing him to speak up.

“I’ll be glad to help. We can figure it out.” His voice was tired but meaningful.

They left their meeting and everyone quietly made their way to various places. V limped with Judy behind Calvin, headed to Tech Depot.

“Hey love.. are you okay with this?” Judy finally looked to V timidly.

She smiled softly and took a deep breath. “I wish you didn’t have to go.. but I understand why you do. You’re the best and smartest techie.” She brought Judy’s hand to her lips and kissed it. “But I’m going with you.” 

“No.” She quickly stopped and turned, making sure V was fully aware of the seriousness in her tone. “No you’re not. Your whole body is basically wrapped in bandages. There’s no way I’m letting you go outside of camp right now.” 

“Baby.. I’m okay.” V tilted her head and stared at her with pleading eyes. “I would feel a lot better if I was with you.”

Judy just raised her eyebrows and shook her head in response. “I’m not gonna change my mind. You’re staying here.” Her posture softened as V’s shoulders dropped. “Of course I want you with me. I hate being apart from you.” She put her hands on V’s arms and rubbed them gently. “But you need to stay here and rest. You understand?”

V closed her eyes, trying to stop her tears from being visible. “Okay.” She let herself be pulled into a hug. “I just.. I worry about you and I feel so bad for putting you through all of this.”

“What? Hey.. I don’t blame you for anything.” Judy took V’s face in her hands and gently traced her cheeks with her thumbs. “This world sucks right now. But we always have each other. I know you’ve been working hard to protect me. So let me do the same for you, okay?”

V smiled. “You’re the best and I will never deserve you. I love you.” 

“I love you too.” She kissed her gently before taking her hand again, leading her to Tech Depot once more. “We’ll be okay.”

Judy geared up and got ready to go out with the team. The plan was to move fast and stay observant. As they were loading up the vehicles, a crackling noise came through on the PECU. 

“Something is wrong with these stupid comms. This has already happened a few times.” Carol hit the unit against the dashboard of the truck and groaned.

“Yeah ever since the Cloak went down, right?” Judy walked over to her and V followed, their hands joined together. “I think you gotta tune the receptors or somethin’ on the main unit. Never really had to do that because we’ve been the only ones using it and it’s been in the same area.”

Carol shrugged in mild agreement. “It’s probably just feedback from all the problems we’ve had with stuff getting disconnected.” She got out of the vehicle and continued packing up the tech supplies.

Calvin walked over and observed the comms unit in the truck. “Um.. this could be an actual message from another location.” He listened for anything coherent within the static but found nothing.

“What?” Judy questioned him. “Like from someone else?” She looked to V and found her own shocked gaze mirrored in her eyes.

He nodded swiftly. “Yeah, I’m gonna go see if I can tune the main unit!” He raced off towards the center of camp. “Listen for any changes!”

“Someone’s been trying to contact us?” V eyed Judy with disbelief.

She let out a confused breath. “Maybe.. I don’t know. Probably not us specifically.. just anyone who can get the signal.” She thought about this new information for a moment. “Actually it makes sense.. with the Cloak disabled, we would be able to get the signal now because the wavelengths aren’t caught up in the same frequencies as the Cloak defenses.”

V watched Judy and smiled. She was always cute but there was some extra added cuteness when she got excited about tech stuff. V wanted to kiss her but that probably wouldn’t be helpful to the conversation. She chewed on her own bottom lip instead: a poor replacement.

“The Cloak takes a lot of power, meaning tuning and signal strength.” Judy was now closely inspecting the PECU as V stood against the truck. “Back when we set it up, Panam was worried about not being able to receive outside distress calls or information. But she decided that the Cloak was more valuable because it was a great defense to protect us, which has been true. Especially since we could still communicate here within short distances.” She paused and ran a hand through her hair. “So maybe someone is finally able to get through now that the Cloak’s down.”

Carol nodded in agreement and clapped her hand on Judy’s shoulder. “That’s what I’ve been saying!” She joked and shoved her gently, making Judy roll her eyes. 

“Mmhm. Exactly.” She smirked at her.

She was about to speak again but the occasional crackling sound suddenly shifted into a voice. “Still attempting to establish contact. If anyone is out there, please respond. Over.”

The sound cut in and out a bit, but it was surprisingly clear. The people in the tech group looked to each other and after a moment of silence, they heard Panam’s voice offer a response. Calvin must have found her.

“Hello? We’re here. Over.” 

More silence followed by a new message. “Is this Panam? From the Aldecaldos? We’ve been trying to reach you forever. Over.”

“What the..” Carol whispered and looked towards the center of camp.

Judy’s eyes were wide as she spoke. “I guess they actually were trying to contact us.”

She had moved to lean on the truck next to V, and was playing with her fingers as they held hands. V’s mind was full of speeding thoughts. Who was this? How did they know Panam and the clan? What did they want?

“And just who might you be? Over.” Panam obviously was understandably skeptical.

“I guess I’ll take that as a yes. My name is Skylar. I’m one of the leaders here in Ember. Viktor Vector is with us and has been trying to reach you all, specifically someone named V. We could use your help. Over.”

V gasped and stood up straight, looking into Judy’s eyes. She found a happy glow in her beautiful, soft brown stare. 

Panam responded quickly. “If he’s there with you.. put him on. Over.” She sounded annoyed yet intrigued.

There was a moment of nothing and V thought the connection had dropped. Her heart was pounding now. 

“Hey Panam.”

V knew the voice immediately. It was him.

“It’s Vik. I know we don’t really know each other and I can’t really do much explaining right now but.. I’ve been in this city a while and we’re struggling.” He paused, almost as if he didn’t want to know the answer to the question he was about to ask. “Listen.. is V.. alive? I knew she went with you guys and we received some information about your general location. We’ve been trying to reach you. Figured you were all gone.. but it sure is good to get a response. Over.”

V moved towards the PECU. Judy grabbed her arm as she reached for the device.

“Baby, wait. We need to use the main unit that Panam is using, otherwise we risk losing the call or messing up the connection.”

V looked to the device again and then to her wife, a distraught nervousness flooding her. Judy gave her a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand. 

Carol motioned for the two of them to move. “Go on. We’ll probably wait on this stuff now and see what she wants to do about it. Catch up with ya later.”

V nodded. “Okay.” She started making her way towards the tent. 

Calvin was already running towards them. “V! Did you hear?”

“Yeah! Yeah I heard. I need to talk to him.” She was moving quickly now, with Judy trying to slow her down a bit as she held onto her.

“Panam’s waiting on you, she wants you to see if it’s really him.” He led them towards her.

“It’s him.” Her tone offered a restrained excitement.

V was overrun with emotion. She had assumed that he, and many others she had known in Night City, were dead. There had been no communication and no way of knowing for sure what their fates were. She had tried to reach out to multiple people when The Ripping started but she was met with very few successes. She knew how bad things were and it had been hard to believe that there were a lot of survivors. Vik was alive.. and that brought her so much renewed hope.

They reached Panam shortly and V instantly noticed her frantic face.

“V! Hold on!” Panam stopped her from speaking into the main PECU, changing her voice to a lower tone. “We have no idea what they want. We don’t even know if this is Vik.”

V met her with hopeful eyes. “Pan, it’s Vik. I know it is. Please let me talk to him. I won’t say anything stupid.” They both smiled at that last part.

She felt Judy’s hand move soothingly up and down her arm. She knew how much this meant to her. 

“Just.. take it slow. Make sure it’s really him. And be smart about it.” Panam moved out of the way so V could sit down. 

“Please.. I’m a pro, Palmer.” 

She gently punched Panam’s shoulder and slowly sat down. Her pain was still a problem and she was trying to be extra cautious. She took a deep breath and Judy stood behind her, playing with her hair and eagerly awaiting whatever was going to happen next.

“Vik?” V cleared her dry throat before continuing. “It’s uh.. me. V. Over.”

“V.. It’s so good to hear your voice! I knew you’d be alive! Nothing can take you down, kid.” She could hear a smile behind his words. “So.. here’s the situation. Sorry to jump right into it but we can catch up later. I’m at this city called Ember. It’s amazing V.. we have people, supplies, security.. but things are changing. It’s like we’re turning into Night City over here with added killer robots. We heard that your people have something called a Cloak that blinds the Psychs. Not sure how you managed that but our tech units have been very interested in meeting with you guys and forming a partnership. Having that around Ember would be a literal lifesaver. Your clan could stay here permanently too if you want. What do you think? Over.”

V looked to Panam as everyone soaked in the information. “Ha-Hang on a second, Vik.” She sputtered out as her confusion grew.

“How do they know about that?” Panam shook her head. “How did they even know where we were and how to reach us?”

V repeated the questions to Viktor. 

“Listen, you guys are big news around here. Not only were some of the Aldecaldos already known in different cities for their survival skills but now your tech teams are known as the best of the best. The world right now is completely messed up. If you can configure a Cloak with such limited resources, imagine what you can do here in a technologically advanced city. I mean sure, things aren’t like they used to be, but we still have tons of good ammunition to work with. As far as how we found your location.. we don’t know it exactly but we have been using the Psych’s communication relays to ping the general area. We heard that a clan was set up over there and I couldn’t shake the thought that it might be you. By our best estimates, Ember is only about 300 miles from you. Over.”

V huffed out a long breath, trying to keep track of all the details he had spilled. Judy’s hands were resting comfortably on V’s shoulders now. 

“Vik.. it’s so good to know you’re alive. I’ve wondered about you every day. But I’m lost man.. really lost. None of this makes any sense. How did you end up in a random city? You knew that we were out here?” She wanted to explain that the Cloak just recently went down and that’s why they never heard the call before but she thought better of it. “There’s nothing left out there right? We haven’t gone outside this area much.. for good reason. But you guys must know since you have a lot more tech and bigger outreach.. what’s out there? Over.”

V wasn’t exactly sure why she had asked that question, or if they even knew the answer, but she knew that everyone thought about it a lot. The small group around her stayed hushed as they stared at the PECU.

“There’s not many people left.. from what we can tell. We’re the major city standing in this part of the country for sure. Night City is dust and other places are in similar situations. I’m fully convinced your Cloak has kept you alive. The Psychs are a lot more deadly than you might think. Look, my story is a long one and I get why you’re uneasy about this. But this is me, kid. I wouldn’t ever do anything to put you in danger.” 

His voice seemed desperate but it still held its familiar calm sound. “We can join forces and become stronger and more secure. I’m sure you guys could use more supplies and space at this point. We can help each other. I’ve been trying to reach you for the longest time and I finally get through and find out you’re alive and well. Please.. take some time to talk and then get back to us. I’m counting on you, V. I’m so glad you’re alive.” 

V smiled and she felt Judy pat her head as he continued. “Crazy how the world has changed, right? I often think about you coming down to the shop and getting a new upgrade as we watched a boxing match. Man, I wish we could go back to that life. Anyways.. thanks for listening. I hope you can talk it out and let us know. This call should have established a secure connection. Just hop back on and reach us when you’re ready. I hope it’s soon. Over and out.”

She leaned back in her chair in shock, wincing slightly at the movement. The combination of information overload and finding out Vik was alive had nearly fried her brain. But this could be the answer they were looking for. This could be a new, safer life for all of them. 

And she would do anything to keep Judy safe.


	10. Resigned Optimism

“How are we supposed to just believe this?” 

Panam had stayed with Calvin, V, and Judy near the PECU to talk about what just happened. She didn’t want to cause unnecessary problems in the camp or provide false hope.

“Pan.. that was definitely Vik. He would never lie about this, even in this current world.” 

Panam shook her head and focused her eyes on the ground. “I don’t know.. I mean, does he really expect us to pack everything up and bring our entire clan to this random city that may or may not be everything he says it is?” She looked to V and saw the frustration behind her eyes. “I know this sounds amazing.. and maybe it could be. But we’ve spent so much time building a life here. We’ve survived here. Sure there have been problems but at least we know this area and we’re prepared. We also have Red Timber, which is a huge advantage.”

V nodded and stood, making Judy eye her with nervousness. “I know.. trust me, I know. You have to admit though, we’re running dangerously low on supplies, ammo, everything. I don’t know if we would survive another attack like the one we just had. I think eventually we would have to make this decision one way or another. This came at the perfect time.” 

V moved to Panam and rested her hand on her shoulder. “I’m scared. This whole world is scary and uncertain and I hate that. When we left Night City, we were all hoping for a new and better life. It’s turned into a new and worse life.” 

Her voice dropped to a whisper that only Panam could hear. “I wanted to finally get Judy out of that city and protect her. It kills me that I can’t give her the happy life she deserves.” She blinked away tears that threatened to fill her tired eyes before clearing her throat and speaking up.

“We have a chance here to get back in the game and get some relief for the clan.” She stepped back and gave Panam a meaningful smile. “It’s your call. You’re my best friend and I trust you with my life: we all do. We’ll respect your decision, whatever it is.” 

She sighed softly and nodded. “Thanks V.” After a moment she looked between Judy and Calvin. “Be honest.. how likely is it that the Cloak can be repaired and get back to normal?”

Judy nervously bit her lip and Calvin seemed to think carefully. He finally spoke in a quiet voice. 

“It’s uh.. unlikely. I think. Unless Judy has another idea.” He looked to her questioningly.

She crossed her arms and V stood at her side again, rubbing her back soothingly.

“Yeah.. it’s unlikely. Kasey must have completely destroyed the pillar which means that our only chance at having an operational Cloak would be to close the distance between us and the town. We would have to move the other pillars and create a smaller space for the shield to be. It’s possible that it might work if we were all together in that smaller space but I don’t know.” 

Panam hummed through another sigh. “Well I know we have no chance of real survival here without the Cloak. If-“ She enunciated the word and looked to V. “If we decide to go this route, Red Timber would have to join us if they want a chance at survival too. I know there will be people from both here and there that don’t want to leave.”

V nodded in agreement. “Yeah I know.” She could tell that Panam needed time to process everything. “Take some time and think about it. You should talk to Parker about it too and see what he thinks. Maybe they will be on board right away. Really Panam.. don’t feel pressured just because this is Vik. I trust him but I also trust you. We’ll get through this, whatever you decide.” 

She took Judy’s hand and started to walk out, motioning with her head for Calvin to follow. They left her and went out into the shining sunlight. 

“I’m gonna go grab some food, you guys wanna come?” Calvin walked backwards as he waited for their reply.

“Mm.. yeah you should eat and drink something.” Judy moved some hair out of V’s face and planted a soft kiss to her cheek.

She blushed slightly and smiled. “You too.” 

They enjoyed a meal together and chose not to mention the fact that their rations appeared to be smaller. They all noticed though. 

V ran her hand up and down Judy’s leg as they sat and watched the clan members engaging in their normal work and activities. Calvin had left for Tech Depot and they were glad to sit and rest. 

“Baby.. worrying doesn’t help anything.” Judy teased V and nudged her gently, placing her hand on her wife’s neck. 

V blinked away her negative thoughts and looked to Judy. “I know.. it’s just.. I want the best for everyone.” She stayed locked on her eyes. “For you.”

“You are the sweetest person.” Judy rubbed V’s neck and brought their lips together.

The kiss was soft and intentional. Judy took her time and went slow but she felt V’s breathing deepen as she increased the pressure. A hand slipped under her shirt and slid around her side to her back, making Judy shiver and release a shuddered puff of air.

V pulled away and Judy’s eyes fluttered with desire. Her gaze rested on V’s lips and below before she looked to her eyes once more.

“We should, um, visit our tent. Haven’t been there in a while.” V’s voice was a whisper as she traced Judy’s jawline with her other hand.

Judy closed her eyes and felt a tingling sensation fill her body. “No no.. you need to be resting and I know going to the tent would not be.. resting. You gotta be careful.”

She struggled to speak as V’s fingertips traced down and around her neck. V smiled and took her hand. 

“Oh I’ll be very gentle with you.” Her smile widened as Judy blushed and looked down shyly. “C’mon cutie.” She carefully stood and guided Judy to follow.

Before they could get any further though, Panam called out to them. “Guys! Come here!” She motioned them over to the communications tent as she went back inside.

V offered a blank stare and a low groan. “Every time.. I swear.” She looked to Judy with an upset face. “Sorry.. I’ll be revisiting this though.”

Judy grinned and tried to hide her own disappointment. “Can’t wait.” She kissed V quickly, making her smile as well.

They rejoined Panam and waited for Calvin. 

“So.. I think we should do it.” She brought her hands together and looked to the group apprehensively. 

“Yeah?” V was noticeably beaming. “Why do you say that?” 

“Well I think it could be good.. and mostly because I just got off comms with Parker and he received some reports of another beacon.” She said that last part quickly and grinned sideways at them. “So yeah.. good to go!”

“What?!” Calvin’s voice was heard more distinctly than the others. “There’s another beacon?”

“Apparently.. and there may be more.” She was freaking out while trying to mask it with calmness. “If we stay here, we won’t have a very good chance, not without the Cloak. Parker agrees and he thinks we should take a chance with Ember. If anything, we can change plans and figure out other options if something goes wrong. We just.. we can’t stay here, we’ve been marked again and more Psychs could be on top of us at any moment.” Her voice was scared but she looked at them with confidence.

V returned her gaze and squeezed Judy’s hand. “I guess we’re doing this then. I’ll tell Vik.”

**

The Aldecaldos and the people from Red Timber worked quickly to prepare for their departure. Truthfully, even though this was a hard thing to do, they had always known that this was a possibility. The townspeople were having a harder time accepting it: Red Timber had been a long-term home for many of them. There were actually quite a few people who were going to stay behind.

“Hey.. you can’t stay here.” Panam took a moment to breathe as she sat down next to Parker. “The people that want to stay behind are staying because this is their home. You’ve been an amazing leader for them but this hasn’t been your home. They don’t blame you. The majority of your people are going with us and you need to be leading them.”

He nodded slowly. “I know.. just tough. Ya know what’s crazy? Every single one of your people are going. That’s amazing and it shows how great of a leader you are.” He smiled at her and he swore he saw a faint blush play on her cheeks.

“That doesn’t mean you’re any less of a leader. You’re great too.” She nudged him and placed a hand on his leg. 

He took her hand and they sat in silence, enjoying the simplicity of the moment. If only their lives could be this simple all the time. 

“Well.. whatever the future holds, we’ll face it together.” He gave her a supportive glance. 

“Always.”

He stood and helped her up, only releasing her hand after realizing he may have been holding it for too long. 

He cleared his throat nervously. “So.. better get back to work. We should be set to go by the morning but I don’t know. This will be interesting.”

“Yeah definitely. We’ll have a final meeting all together before heading out.” She stretched some of the tiredness from her bones. “See ya soon.” 

He turned back to her after walking a few feet away. “Oh by the way, the team finally finished cleaning up after the Specters. They actually had some good stuff we can use and we’ll need the extra vehicles.” 

“That’s good but we are low on fuel. Thankfully Ember doesn’t seem too far away.. we just gotta make it there.”

“We will. Don’t worry, Pan.”

Parker headed back to town as Panam wandered off to find V and check in on the different teams.

“Hey! We’re ready to roll out. Anything else we should be aware of?” Judy eagerly watched as Panam approached. 

“Not that I know of. Just be careful and quick.”

“Of course.” Judy kissed her wife who was clinging to her. “Alright baby, I gotta go. I’ll be back as fast as possible, okay?”

V pulled back and nodded. “Okay Jude. I love you.” 

Judy knew they were both holding back tears but she wanted to be strong for her. “I love you too.” She took her hands and then led her to Panam. “You’re gonna go with Panam to Med Bay and get cleaned up with fresh bandages before they finish packing everything up.” She put her finger on V’s lips and blocked her protesting. “Hey.. do this for me please.”

V softened and couldn’t hide a smile, which Judy traced with her finger. “You’re so cute.” She whispered and gave V a kiss. “I’ll be safe. We’ll have the pillars back in no time.”

V watched as Judy and the team left to drive out into the desert. She played with her ring and tried to steady her pounding heart.

Panam gave her a gentle side hug and took her hand. “Let’s go to Med Bay now. She’ll kill me if I don’t help you get fresh supplies.” They started to walk in that direction.

“So how did your talk with Parker go?” V laughed as Panam reddened at her playful tone. “Ah, I see the two P’s in a pod are still going strong.” 

“Valerie.. no. That name is-“

“So cute!” V interrupted her best friend loudly. “You guys are meant to be. You’re just delaying the inevitable.” 

She groaned fondly. “Not everyone is as effortless as you and Judy. We can’t just jump right into bed.”

V gave her a shocked look with a scoff. “Excuse me.. that’s not how it went down.” She pushed Panam away from her and laughed again.

Panam smiled and returned to her side. “Oh please.. you know I speak the truth.” She watched with adoration as V’s eyes rolled and her body language turned defensive. “You are soulmates, I have no doubt about that.. eager soulmates.” 

She cleared her throat a bit before continuing. “I just wish.. I wish it was that easy. I know you both took some time to figure things out and understand your feelings but when it came down to it, you.. embraced those feelings and went for it. You’re so in love and it’s obvious that she’s the best thing that has ever happened to you. I didn’t see that type of love very often in Night City or anywhere else. I just.. don’t want to ruin anything.”

V nodded with understanding. “I get it. I got so incredibly lucky with Judy. She’s everything to me and I can’t imagine losing her.” V tried to compose herself as her heart thumped heavily again. “Do you think you could feel that way about Parker?”

“I think so.” Panam smiled at the thought of being with him. “He’s amazing, caring, hot..” Her voice trailed off and V chuckled. “I don’t know.. we’ll see what happens.” 

“Feel the fear and do it anyway.” V shared the words that she remembered hearing from Vik long ago. “I think you should go for it.. never know what’s gonna happen. We gotta find happiness somehow in all of this chaos.”

V had found her total and complete happiness in Judy. They had made it through so many obstacles together and V wasn’t going to let the fear and guilt start winning now. Their new and better life was still out there waiting for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next journey begins for them! Thank you all for reading and supporting this story :)


	11. Trust The Journey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. I have been dealing with a lot of stuff lately but I think things are finally turning a corner now. I greatly appreciate your patience!

The sun had risen just as it always did. The faint orange glow filled the sky and brought with it both fear and hope. There was a new feeling in the air today. The Aldecaldos and townspeople were ready for the next challenge but there seemed to always be some doubt that would creep in.

Leaving this place is hard. There had been lots of important memories here in the last months. The camp was the first real home that V and Judy had shared since Night City. This is where they had eternally pledged themselves to each other and entered into marriage.

So many things had happened here to them, both good and bad. Love was the thing that always propelled the two of them though. They would continue to be in love no matter where they went and that was a great comfort. Nothing would ever take that fire away from them.

The convoy was moving now. The Aldecaldos had gone ahead as a group and the people from Red Timber would follow after allowing a little bit of time to pass. They hoped it would be safer this way rather than one massive group trying to complete the journey all together and possibly drawing more attention to themselves. They would be spaced out but still close enough to help each other if trouble arose.

The communication truck, complete with tech and a signal enhancer, would be at the end of the clan convoy. Hopefully with it being in the middle of both groups, the PECU units would still work well enough for people to be able to communicate with each other. Calvin was driving V, Judy, and Panam at the front of the group as they mapped their way towards Ember.

Judy stared out the window of the moving truck. She often expected to see something new and exciting in the distance but she was usually met with more dust and blinding rays of sun. This open wasteland did have a beauty of its own; a very freeing and inspiring beauty. Even though it holds many dark secrets, the vastness of the land creates the illusion of a peaceful existence.

She looked down to her wife, who was asleep and stretched out comfortably on the seat, head resting in her lap. Judy’s hand softly sifted through V’s hair, soothing her as she dreamed. She pulled the blanket more snugly around V before resuming her gazing out of the window.

She thought of the many night swims they did in the pond under the countless stars. They were going to do one final swim but Judy didn’t want to risk V’s wounds becoming negatively impacted. 

Those nights had been some of the best. The feeling of being wrapped up together in the cool water was unmatched. Judy had always enjoyed spending time in the water but having V there with her made the whole experience go from amazing to absolute perfection. 

Before she met V, she used to dive down below the surface in order to escape reality and get a better hold of her thoughts. But now diving into the water means experiencing true freedom and purpose and weightlessness.. all of the things she feels when she is with her wife. 

V brings her to new heights and shows her new ways to love and be loved. Some of their most special moments have taken place in the calming waves, and it has been a true joy to share this life with V. Judy has such a strong feeling of happiness in her heart and soul.

The camp that they had created, defended, and upgraded had now returned to being a simple little haven in the middle of the desert. Would anyone ever stumble on it again? Would anyone find the few scraps that had been left behind? The camp itself was lost but the memories would never fade. 

But now they had packed up and left this familiar place in order to find yet another home. Judy smiled at the thought of that word and the meaning behind it. Her home is V. There is no question or doubt in her mind about that. Wherever they go, they will always be together. Right?

V began to stir a bit and Judy looked down to her. She gently rubbed her side and played with her hair.

“Hey you.” Judy whispered as V opened her sleepy eyes.

She smiled and snuggled deeper into her lap. “Hey baby.” Her voice was tired. 

“You okay?” She watched her carefully, trying to gauge her pain levels.

V nodded and closed her eyes again. “Yeah.”

Judy was about to tell her to get some more sleep but Panam spoke from the front seat. “Hey, we’re approaching some sort of ravine.” She leaned out of the window and motioned for the scrap bike that was next to them to stop. “Get a little closer and then stop.” She looked to Calvin and then back down at her maps. “This should be interesting. Hopefully we can move past it.” She mumbled that but they still heard her.

They slowed down to a stop shortly after. The rest of the convoy did the same and the spotters checked every direction for signs of movement. Panam hopped out followed by Calvin as he turned the truck off.

V sat up slowly as Judy helped her. “Hey when we get moving again you should get some more rest.”

“Mm I’m good.. I’m not tired anymore.” V mumbled as she rubbed her eyes and stretched.

Judy chuckled softly. “Baby.. I can tell you’re still really sleepy.” She opened the door and took V’s hand, helping her get out. “C’mon, let’s see what’s happening. Then you’ll get more sleep.. you need it.”

V didn’t argue as she stumbled out of the truck, letting Judy hold her up as she found her footing. Truthfully, she was pretty exhausted and she did love falling asleep in Judy’s arms. It always felt so safe and comforting.

They walked over to Panam hand in hand as others from the convoy began to look around curiously. Panam had hopped on the comms and instructed the group to stay near the convoy and stay alert. This was officially uncharted territory now and it felt a lot more real.

“What’s the deal?” V looked around and didn’t see an immediate route that could work.

“Not sure yet.. we might have to circle back and find another connecting part.” She seemed frustrated but was clearly trying to lessen the seriousness of the situation. “But this is why we have scouting teams I guess. I’m gonna go round up a team and have them look for a quick solution.” She sighed and gathered the maps up. “We shouldn’t stay here any longer than we have to. We could easily be cornered here. I’ll be back.” She jogged off to the other parts of the convoy.

Judy noticed V looking around a lot and focusing on the other vehicles in the group. “What’s wrong baby?”

V returned her eyes to Judy and gave her a half smile. “Nothing. I was just hoping to see Jace. Haven’t really seen him at all since everything went down.. I feel bad.” 

Her eyes looked sad. Judy knew how much guilt she carried about that and everything else. It broke her heart to see her wife take the blame upon herself for so many things when it was unwarranted and unnecessary. 

“Hey.” Judy played with V’s fingers and pulled her closer. 

She brought her mouth to V’s and traced the outline of her lips with her own. She felt her form a full smile which made Judy smile in return. Judy kissed her and for a few moments, they were locked together, forgetting about the troubles of the outside world. As they pulled apart, she brought a thumb to V’s red cheek, stroking her soft skin.

“You have nothing to feel guilty about, my love.” V looked to the ground shyly as Judy whispered to her. “Got that?” She lightly tickled behind V’s ear and down her neck.

V scrunched up her shoulder as giggles bubbled out of her. It always blew her mind how Judy could instantly melt her into a puddle. She was so in love it physically hurt; in the best possible way. 

She nodded and spoke through her smile. “Yeah.” 

Judy squeezed her hand. “We can try to go find him if you want. As long as we don’t go too far.”

They agreed to go and look for him as they waited for things to get moving again. 

V soon saw him approaching one of the vehicles in the convoy. “Jace!” Apparently he had been stretching a bit and walking around, which was a good sign. “How are you?” She hugged him carefully and looked to his bandaged leg. “How’s the leg?” 

“I’m doing good. Just figured I should get out of the truck for a bit. Who knows how long we’ll be driving after this. So..” He looked to her briefly before moving his eyes away. “Thank you so much. You saved my life.” He was smiling a bit. “I’m sorry the mission didn’t really go as planned.. but I owe you.” 

“Nah you don’t owe me anything. I’m just glad you’re okay. Technically you saved me too so we’re even.”

“So we’re really doing this huh? This your idea?” He joked as he changed the subject and leaned against the vehicle, looking to her with a smirk.

She scoffed with a chuckle. “Something like that.” She paused and her voice turned to a whisper. “I really hope this works out.” Her eyes seemed sad as she looked at him and she felt Judy move closer to her.

V had been struggling with this decision. She knew in her heart that it was the way to go but she also didn’t want to lead them into something bad. Would Panam have done this without V’s influence? Maybe she had been too involved and too biased. Her thoughts were scattered and she was nervous for the future. Everyone was probably in a similar mindset even if they didn’t voice it.

“We trust you and Panam. We’re in this together. I have a feeling this’ll be good.” He held out his fist to V and she bumped it with her own fist. “Keep taking care of her. She needs all the help she can get.” He looked to Judy as he addressed her, who smiled in agreement.

“Definitely. Sometimes I wonder how she would ever function without me.” She noticed V’s eyes rolling playfully and Judy nudged her gently.

They said their goodbyes and Judy and V headed to the front of the clan once more. Panam was returning and giving orders to the team she had rounded up.

That group set out to observe their surroundings and Calvin worked with a couple other tech people to get the battle drone in the air in order to be their eyes in the sky. Panam seemed nervous as she paced near the portable terminal.

“See a way around yet?” She was now watching the screen relentlessly.

“Maybe.. look.” 

He pointed to a small, strange wooden bridge about a mile east of them. He hovered the drone above it and saw that the bridge spanned across the ravine, allowing passage.

“Well it certainly looks.. interesting.” Panam sighed and studied the screen as the drone relayed the picture back to them through the camera.

The bridge appeared to be stable but appearances can be deceiving. It looked a little wider than a single vehicle and between the two convoy groups they would have a lot of vehicles to get across.

“Okay.. so what’s the plan?” Calvin brought the drone back to them. “I don’t see any other way around this thing.. it could be miles until we find the end of the ravine.”

“Yeah I know.. and if Psychs end up finding us here we’ll be in trouble. I’m surprised we haven’t seen any yet.” Panam looked around as she spoke, seemingly waiting to be proven wrong.

“Don’t jinx it.” Calvin offered a half laugh.

“We’ll probably have enough bad luck without me jinxing things.” Even if she was joking, V felt the weight of that statement lay heavy on her heart. “Well the team went that way.. I’ll radio them and tell them to check out the bridge. We should get moving soon.” She walked over to V. “Vik didn’t mention any of this, did he?”

She shook her head and shrugged. “No.. but I don’t think they know a lot about the area way out here. Sorry.” 

Panam raised her eyebrows a bit. “That’s okay. It’s not your fault.” V nodded but looked away. “Okay.. hang tight. I’m gonna talk to the team and then check in with Parker and let him know about this.”

“Can we go sit in the truck again?” V asked Judy but was still staring at the ground.

“Of course baby.” Judy climbed into the backseat with V and carefully covered her with the blanket. “Hey.” She lightly raised V’s chin so their eye levels matched. “None of this is your fault. I wish you would see that.” Her tone was soft and caring, causing V to relax a little.

“I’m trying.. just hard. I don’t know.” Her muttering tone was followed by a deep breath. “You’re wonderful though. I love you.” She smiled and kissed her wife. 

“Mm not as wonderful as you.” Judy pressed another kiss to V’s flushed cheek. “We’ll be okay, mi calabacita.”

After some more deliberation and a final decision from Panam, they opted to take a chance on the bridge and go across one by one. They would attempt to do it quickly before any Psychs, or other threats, showed up.

The vehicles lined up at the bridge and Ryder volunteered to go across first on his scrap bike. It was about a 200 foot drop to the bottom of the ravine and to say that everyone was nervous was an understatement. 

There just wasn’t a better solution. Even if they could find another way, it would be a while before they found it, if ever, and they would use up too much fuel in the process. The bridge was here for a reason and Panam thought they should use it.

Ryder made it across without any problems and it only took about 30 seconds. The bigger vehicles were more of a risk but it seemed like it would work. One by one, they all took their time and carefully traversed the bridge. Once the last truck had passed over safely, everyone was finally able to give a big sigh of relief. 

They took another few moments to pause and get their bearings while Panam updated Parker. His convoy was just now leaving and they would remain a little bit behind the first group. For now, everything seemed smooth. They were hopeful and eager to reach the safety of Ember. At least, they hoped it was safe.

For now the plan was to travel and then set up camp once nightfall hit. Barring any major interruptions, the groups would meet up at the end of the journey and arrive at Ember in roughly 4 days. They wanted plenty of time to rest, refuel, and plan as they went along.

V was back to resting with Judy while the group continued their normal driving. She was quickly falling asleep as Judy played with her hair again.

Her thoughts drifted to the proposal. She had known in her heart that Judy would say yes to being her wife but that was the most nervous she had ever been. 

V had gone through it countless times in her head and when it actually happened, it was more magical than she ever could have imagined. Holding Judy in her arms as the excitement of her answer filled the air was incredible. She never wanted to lose that feeling of pure love and happiness. 

Her heart was so full. As she fell asleep listening to the rumble of the truck and feeling the soft and comforting touch of her wife, she felt peace and security.

But fear was still lodged deep in her soul.


End file.
